University  of  California  •  Berkeley 


cA+lte^ 

I 


V  : 


A  GOLD  HUNTER'S 
EXPERIENCE 


A  GOLD  HUNTER'S 
EXPERIENCE 


BY 

CHALKLEY  J.  HAMBLETON 


CHICAGO 

PRINTED  FOR  PRIVATE  CIRCULATION 
1898 


/  have  often  been  asked  to  write  an  account 
of  my  Pike's  Peak  Expedition  in  search  of  gold. 
The  following  attempt  has  been  made  up  partly 
from  memory  and  partly  from  old  letters  written 
at  the  time  to  my  sister  in  the  east. 

C.  J.  H. 


A   Gold   Hunter's  Experience 


Early  in  the  summer  of  1860  I  had 
a  bad  attack  of  gold  fever.  In  Chicago 
the  conditions  for  such  a  malady  were 
all  favorable.  Since  the  panic  of  1857 
there  had  been  three  years  of  general 
depression,  money  was  scarce,  there 
was  little  activity  in  business,  the  out- 
look was  discouraging,  and  I,  like 
hundreds  of  others,  felt  blue. 

Gold  had  been  discovered  in  the  fall 
of  1858  in  the  vicinity  of  Pike's  Peak,  by 
a  party  of  Georgian  prospectors,  and 
for  several  years  afterward  the  whole 
gold  region  for  seventy  miles  to  the 
north  was  called  "  Pike's  Peak."  Others 
in  the  East  heard  of  the  gold  discoveries 
and  went  West  the  next  spring;  so  that 

5 


A  GOLD    HUNTER'S    EXPERIENCE 

during  the  summer  of  1859  a  great  deal 
of  prospecting  was  done  in  the  moun- 
tains as  far  north  as  Denver  and  Boul- 
der Creek. 

Those  who  returned  in  the  autumn 
of  that  year,  having  perhaps  claims 
and  mines  to  sell,  told  large  stories  of 
their  rich  finds,  which  grew  larger  as 
they  were  repeated,  amplified  and  cir- 
culated by  those  who  dealt  in  mining 
outfits  and  mills.  Then  these  accounts 
were  fed  out  to  the  public  daily  in  an 
appetizing  way  by  the  newspapers. 
The  result  was  that  by  the  next  spring 
the  epidemic  became  as  prevalent  in 
Chicago  as  cholera  was  a  few  years 
later. 

Four  of  the  fever  stricken  ones,  Enos 
Ayres,  T.  R.  Stubbs,  John  Sollitt  and 
myself,  formed  a  partnership,  raised 
about  19,000  and  went  to  work  to  pur- 
chase the  necessary  outfit  for  gold  min- 
ing. Mr.  Ayres  furnished  a  larger  share 
of  the  capital  than  any  of  the  others 


A   GOLD    HUNTER'S    EXPERIENCE 

and  was  not  to  go  with  the  expedition, 
but  might  join  us  the  following  year. 
Mr.  Stubbs  and  I  were  both  to  go, 
while  Mr.  Sollitt  was  to  be  represented 
by  a  substitute,  a  relative  whose  name 
was  also  John  Sollitt,  and  who  had 
been  a  farmer  and  butcher  and  was 
supposed  to  know  all  about  oxen.  Mr. 
Stubbs  was  a  good  mechanic,  an  intel- 
ligent, well-read  man,  and  ten  years 
before  had  been  to  California  in  search 
of  gold. 

Our  outfit  consisted  of  a  12 -stamp 
quartz  mill  with  engine  and  boiler,  and 
all  the  equipments  understood  to  be 
necessary  for  extracting  gold  from  the 
rock,  including  mining  tools,  powder, 
quicksilver,  copper  plate  and  chemicals; 
also  a  supply  of  provisions  for  a  year. 
The  staple  articles  of  the  latter  were 
flour,  beans,  salt  pork,  coffee  and  sugar. 
Then  we  had  rice,  cornmeal,  dried 
fruit,  tea,  bacon  and  a  barrel  of  syrup; 
besides  a  good  supply  of  hardtack, 

7 


A   GOLD    HUNTER'S    EXPERIENCE 

crackers  and  cheese  for  use  while  cross- 
ing the  plains,  when  a  fire  for  cooking 
might  not  be  found  practicable.  These 
things  were  all  purchased  in  Chicago, 
together  with  the  fourteen  wagons 
necessary  to  carry  them  across  the 
plains.  Then  all  were  shipped  by  rail 
to  St.  Joseph,  Mo.,  where  the  oxen 
were  to  be  purchased.  The  entire  out- 
fit when  loaded  on  the  cars,  weighed 
twenty-four  tons. 

I  stayed  in  Chicago  till  the  last  to 
help  purchase  and  forward  the  outfit 
and  supplies,  while  Stubbs  and  Sollitt 
(the  substitute)  went  to  St.  Joe  to  re- 
ceive and  load  them  on  the  wagons  and 
to  purchase  the  oxen. 

On  the  ist  day  of  August,  all  was 
ready,  and  we  ferried  our  loaded 
wagons  and  teams  across  the  Missouri 
River  into  Kansas  to  make  a  final  start 
next  morning  into  regions  to  us  un- 
known. Stubbs  started  the  same  day 
by  stage  for  the  mountains,  to  prospect 

8 


A   GOLD    HUNTER'S    EXPERIENCE 

and  look  out  for  a  favorable  location 
and  then  to  meet  the  train  when  it  ar- 
rived at  Denver.  Sollitt  was  to  be 
trainmaster,  which  involved  the  over- 
sight and  direction  of  the  teams  and 
drivers,  and  the  duty  of  frequently 
going  ahead  to  pick  out  the  best  road 
and  select  a  favorable  place  to  camp  at 
night,  where  water  and  grass  could  be 
had.  I  was  the  general  business  man 
of  the  expedition,  had  full  power  of 
attorney  from  Mr.  Ayres  to  represent 
and  manage  his  interest,  and  hence  I 
had  the  control  and  responsibility  in 
my  hands  and  practically  decided  all 
important  questions  relating  to  the 
business. 

The  fourteen  ox-drivers  were  all 
volunteers,  who  drove  without  pay — 
except  their  board — for  the  sake  of 
getting  to  the  gold  regions  to  make 
their  fortunes  there.  Most  of  them 
were  from  Chicago — three  married 
men  who  left  families  behind,  and  one  a 

9 


A    GOLD    HUNTER'S    EXPERIENCE 

young  dentist.  Another  was  the  son 
of  a  prominent  public  woman  who  was 
a  rigid  Presbyterian,  and  when  I  left 
Chicago  his  father  gave  me  a  satchel 
full  of  religious  books  to  give  to  him  in 
St.  Joe  to  read  on  the  plains.  He 
deliberately  pitched  them  into  a  loft, 
where  they  were  left.  Another  was  a 
young  Illinois  farmer,  named  Tobias,  a 
splendid  fellow.  Among  those  we 
secured  in  St.  Joe  were  one  German 
and  two  Missourians. 

The  principal  article  in  the  outfit  of 
each  individual,  aside  from  his  orna- 
ments in  the  shape  of  knives  and 
pistols,  was  a  pair  of  heavy  blankets. 
One  of  the  Missourians  first  appeared 
without  any,  but  next  morning  he  had 
a  quilted  calico  bed  cover,  stuffed  with 
cotton,  borrowed  probably  from  a 
friendly  clothesline,  and  which,  at  the 
end  of  the  journey,  presented  a  very 
dilapidated  appearance . 

Early  in  the  morning  of  August  2d 


A   GOLD    HUNTER'S    EXPERIENCE 

all  were  busy  yoking  oxen  and  hitching 
them  to  the  wagons,  but  as  most  of  the 
drivers  were  green  at  the  business  and 
did  not  know  "haw"  from  "gee,"  and 
a  number  of  the  oxen  were  young  and 
not  well  broken,  it  was  several  hours 
before  our  train  was  in  motion  and 
finally  headed  for  "Pike's  Peak."  The 
train  consisted  of  fourteen  wagons,  a 
driver  for  each,  forty  yoke  of  oxen,  one 
yoke  of  cows  and  one  pony  with  a 
Mexican  saddle  and  a  rawhide  lariat 
thirty  feet  long,  with  an  iron  pin  at  the 
end  to  stick  in  the  ground  to  secure  the 
animal. 

For  the  first  two  or  three  miles, 
while  crossing  the  level  valley,  all  went 
well,  but  when  we  reached  the  bluffs 
and  ravines  that  bounded  the  river 
valley  on  the  west,  the  green  oxen 
began  to  balk  and  back  and  refused  to 
pull  their  loads  up  the  hills,  and  the 
new  drivers  were  nonplused  and  help- 
less. The  better  teams  went  ahead 


A   GOLD    HUNTER'S    EXPERIENCE 

and  were  soon  out  of  sight,  while  the 
poorer  ones  had  to  double  up,  taking 
one  wagon  up  a  hill  and  then  going 
back  for  another,  and  consequently 
made  slow  progress.  Instead  of  riding 
or  walking  along  like  a  * '  boss  "  at  ease, 
I  soon  found  myself  fully  occupied  in 
whipping  up  the  poorly  broken  oxen  on 
the  off  side,  while  the  green  drivers 
whipped  and  yelled  at  those  on  their 
side  of  the  team.  It  was  surprising 
how  soon  the  nice  city  boys  picked  up 
the  strong  language  in  use  by  teamsters 
on  the  Western  plains.  The  teams 
got  separated,  and  the  train  stretched 
out  two  or  three  miles  long.  Then 
Sollitt  rode  ahead,  picked  out  a  camp- 
ing place,  and  directed  the  drivers  to 
halt  and  unyoke  as  they  reached  it; 
but  when  it  became  dark  three  or  four 
teams  were  still  from  a  quarter  of  a 
mile  to  a  mile  behind,  and  in  trouble, 
so  they  unhitched  the  oxen  and  let 
them  run  in  their  yokes  for  the  night. 


12 


A   GOLD    HUNTER'S    EXPERIENCE 

Our  lunch  and  our  supper  that  day  con- 
sisted of  crackers  and  cheese,  as  we 
had  no  time  to  cook. 

About  dark  a  shower  came  up,  and  it 
drizzled  a  good  part  of  the  night — the 
last  rain  we  met  with  for  many  weeks. 
We  rolled  ourselves  up  in  our  blankets 
on  the  ground,  under  the  wagons  or  in 
a  small  tent  we  had,  for  sleep.  At  day- 
light next  morning  we  all  started  in 
different  directions  through  the  wet 
bushes  that  filled  the  ravines  to  find 
the  scattered  oxen,  and  before  noon 
they  were  all  collected  at  camp.  We 
had  hot  coffee  and  some  cooked  things 
for  breakfast.  But  several  accidents 
had  occurred.  The  cows  had  fallen 
into  a  gully  with  their  yoke  on  and 
broken  their  necks,  one  load  of  heavy 
machinery  had  run  down  hill  and  upset, 
one  axle,  two  wagon  tongues,  one  yoke 
and  some  chains  were  broken.  Sollitt, 
with  two  or  three  of  the  drivers  who 
were  mechanics,  went  to  work  to  repair 
13 


A   GOLD    HUNTER'S    EXPERIENCE 

damages.  As  we  seemed  short  of  oxen, 
I  rode  back  to  St.  Joe  and  bought  two 
yoke  more,  spending  the  last  of  our 
money  except  about  fifty  dollars. 

By  next  morning  we  were  ready  for 
a  new  start.  Experience  had  already 
taught  us  something,  and  we  adopted 
more  system  and  some  rules.  All  the 
teams  were  to  keep  near  together,  so 
as  not  to  leave  the  weaker  ones  behind 
in  the  lurch.  Our  cattle  were  to  be 
strictly  watched  all  night  by  two  men 
on  guard  at  a  time — not  together,  but 
on  opposite  sides  of  the  herd.  Two 
would  watch  half  the  night  and  then 
be  relieved  by  two  others  who  stood 
guard  till  morning.  We  all  took  our 
turns  except  the  cook,  who  was  relieved 
from  that  duty  and  from  yoking  and 
hitching  up  his  own  team,  as  cooking 
for  sixteen  men  while  in  camp  was 
no  sinecure.  The  man  chosen  for  cook 
was  one  of  the  drivers  from  Chicago 
named  Taylor,  who  had  cooked  for 
H 


A   GOLD    HUNTER'S    EXPERIENCE 

campers  and  for  parties  at  work  in  the 
woods.  He  was  really  a  good  plain 
cook.  His  utensils  consisted  of  some 
large  boiling  pots  and  kettles,  a  tin 
bake  oven,  two  or  three  frying  pans,  a 
two-gallon  coffeepot  and  a  few  other 
usual  articles. 

Each  person  had  a  tin  plate,  a  pint 
tin  cup  with  a  handle,  and  an  iron 
knife,  fork  and  spoon.  The  food  was 
placed  in  the  dishes  and  cups  on  the 
ground,  and  while  eating  we  stood  up, 
sat  on  the  ground  or  reclined  in  the 
fashion  of  the  ancient  Romans,  accord- 
ing to  our  individual  tastes.  The  arti- 
cle of  first  importance  at  a  meal  was 
strong  coffee  and  plenty  of  it.  Next 
came  boiled  beans  with  pork,  whenever 
there  was  time  to  cook  them;  and  that 
could  generally  be  done  during  the 
night.  Then  we  had  some  kind  of 
bread,  cake  or  crackers,  and  sometimes 
stewed  dried  fruit. 

About  the  third  day  out  our  open  air 
15 


A   GOLD    HUNTER'S    EXPERIENCE 

prairie  appetites  came,  and  it  seemed 
as  if  we  could  eat  and  digest  anything. 
I  had  been  a  little  out  of  health  for 
some  time,  was  somewhat  dyspeptic, 
and  had  not  tasted  pork  for  years. 
Soon  I  could  devour  it  in  a  manner 
that  would  have  shocked  my  vegetarian 
friends;  and  for  the  next  two  years  I 
was  conscious  of  a  stomach  only  when 
hungry. 

The  third  day  the  teams  went  a  little 
better,  but  we  had  to  double  up  some- 
times to  pull  the  wagons  up  the  hills 
and  out  of  the  deep  gullies  we  had 
frequently  to  cross,  so  we  only  made 
seven  or  eight  miles.  In  a  few  days 
we  got  out  on  the  level  prairie  and  went 
along  faster.  But  every  morning  for  a 
week,  one  or  more  of  our  cattle  would 
be  lost  from  the  herd.  They  would 
sneak  away  during  the  night  and  hide 
in  the  bushes  and  ravines,  or  start  back 
toward  home.  As  I  had  no  special 
duties  in  camp,  or  in  yoking  up  in  the 

16 


A   GOLD    HUNTER'S    EXPERIENCE 

morning,  hunting  them  fell  to  my  lot. 
If  not  found  in  the  first  search  before 
starting  time,  I  would  ride  back  on  the 
pony  for  miles,  scour  the  country  and 
hunt  through  the  gullies  and  bushes 
for  hours  till  the  lost  animal  was  found; 
then  drive  him  along  until  the  train  was 
overtaken.  That  could  easily  be  fol- 
lowed by  the  tracks  of  the  wheels  on 
the  prairie.  Hiawatha,  Kansas,  and  a 
few  scattered  cabins  some  miles  to  the 
west  of  it  were  about  the  last  signs  of 
settlement  and  civilization  that  we  saw. 
That  season  was  a  very  dry  one  in 
Kansas  and  on  the  Western  plains. 
The  prairies  were  parched  and  looked 
like  a  desert,  except  a  fringe  of  green 
along  the  water  courses.  The  heat 
was  intense  and  the  distant  hills  and 
everything  visible  seemed  quivering 
from  its  effects.  The  dry  ground  and 
sand  reflected  the  sun's  rays  into  our 
faces,  till  a  few  with  weak  eyes  were 
seriously  affected.  The  iron  about  the 
17 


A   GOLD    HUNTER'S    EXPERIENCE 

wagons,  and  the  chains  were  blistering 
to  the  touch.  The  southwest  wind 
was  like  a  blast  from  a  heated  furnace. 
It  was  worse  than  stillness,  and  I 
frequently  took  shelter  behind  a  wagon 
to  escape  its  effects. 

This  heat  was  very  trying  and  debili- 
tating to  the  oxen.  They  would  pant, 
loll  their  tongues  out  of  their  mouths, 
refuse  to  pull,  and  lie  down  in  their 
yokes.  Sometimes  we  were  compelled 
to  keep  quiet  all  day,  and  drive  in  the 
early  evening  and  morning,  and  during 
the  night  when  we  could  find  the  way. 
The  most  important  thing  was  to  find 
water  near  which  to  camp.  Wolves 
began  to  surround  our  camp  and  the 
herd  of  oxen  at  night,  and  break  the 
silence  by  their  piercing  howls.  After 
we  had  gone  to  sleep,  they  would  sneak 
into  camp  to  pick  up  scraps  left  from 
supper,  then  come  within  a  few  feet  of 
some  one  rolled  up  in  his  blanket  and 
startle  him  with  a  howl.  But  with  all 

18 


A    GOLD    HUNTER'S    EXPERIENCE 

their  noise  these  prairie  wolves  were 
great  cowards,  and  would  run  from  any 
movement  of  a  man. 

Soon  after  starting  out  one  evening 
for  a  night  drive,  after  a  very  hot  day, 
one  of  the  weak  oxen  lay  down  and 
refused  to  go.  That  the  train  might 
not  be  delayed,  they  tied  his  mate  to  a 
wagon,  and  I  concluded  to  stay  behind 
with  him  till  morning  to  see  if  he  would 
recover.  Soon  after  dark  the  wolves 
seeming  to  divine  his  condition  and  the 
good  meal  in  store  for  them,  collected 
around  us  a  short  distance  off,  and 
seated  on  their  haunches,  with  howls  of 
impatience  waited  for  the  feast.  They 
were  plainly  visible  by  their  glaring, 
fire-like  eyes.  I  varied  the  monotony 
of  the  long  night  by  walking  around, 
sitting  down,  lying  upon  the  ground, 
and  occasionally  falling  asleep  beside 
the  sick  ox.  Then  the  wolves  em- 
boldened by  the  stillness,  would  sneak 
up  close  to  us  and  break  out  in  piercing 
19 


A   GOLD    HUNTER'S    EXPERIENCE 

howls,  but  they  would  instantly  vanish 
when  I  got  up  and  threw  something  at 
them. 

Daylight  came  at  last;  the  ox  had 
grown  worse  instead  of  better,  and  I 
left  him  to  his  fate  and  the  wolves,  and 
followed  the  wagon  tracks  till  I  over- 
took the  train  in  camp,  early  in  the 
day,  with  an  appetite  for  a  quart  of 
strong  coffee  and  something  to  eat. 

In  this  hot  weather  the  oxen  with 
their  heavy  loads  did  not  make  more 
than  a  mile  an  hour  when  on  the  march, 
so  with  the  numerous  delays  it  was 
nearly  two  weeks  before  we  reached 
Marysville  on  the  Big  Blue  River. 
This  was  a  small  settlement  on  the 
verge  of  civilization,  with  a  few  ranches, 
saloons  and  stores,  situated  on  that 
branch  of  the  old  Oregon  trail  which 
started  northward  from  Westport, 
Mo.,  and  passed  near  Fort  Leaven- 
worth,  Kan.  The  inhabitants  had  the 
reputation  of  being  mostly  outlaws, 
20 


A   GOLD    HUNTER'S    EXPERIENCE 

blacklegs  and  stock  thieves.  Their 
reputation  inspired  us  with  such  respect 
for  them  that  we  kept  extra  watch  over 
our  cattle  and  possessions  while  in  the 
vicinity. 

About  a  week  after  starting,  one  of 
the  drivers  got  homesick,  discouraged 
and  disgusted  with  the  trip,  left  us  and 
started  back  home  on  foot.  This  com- 
pelled Sollitt  and  me  to  drive  his  team. 
One  of  our  wagons  not  being  made  of 
properly  seasoned  wood,  became  shaky 
from  the  effects  of  the  heat  and  dry  air 
of  the  plains.  At  Marys ville  I  traded 
it  off  to  a  ranchman  for  a  yoke  of  oxen 
and  had  the  load  distributed  on  the 
other  wagons  so  that  again  we  had  as 
many  drivers  as  teams.  I  also  traded 
some  of  our  younger,  weaker  oxen  for 
old  ones  that  served  our  purpose  better, 
though  they  were  of  less  market  value . 

We  learned  that  between  this  place 
and  the  Little  Blue,  there  was  no  water 
to  be  found  to  enable  us  to  camp  for  a 

21 


A    GOLD    HUNTER'S    EXPERIENCE 

night,  so  we  were  compelled  to  make 
the  trip — some  twenty  miles — at  a 
single  drive.  As  the  weather  was  hot 
we  started  late  in  the  afternoon,  drove 
all  night,  and  arrived  early  next  day, 
at  that  small  river,  where  we  found 
water  and  grass.  Sollitt  rode  ahead 
much  of  the  time  to  pick  out  the 
road. 

Our  course  for  several  days  was  now 
along  the  Little  Blue  in  a  northwest 
direction,  toward  Fort  Kearney  on  the 
Platte.  To  avoid  the  side  gullies  and 
ravines,  which  were  water  courses  in 
the  spring,  though  now  dried  up,  we 
frequently  circled  off  two  or  three  miles 
on  to  the  level  prairie,  but  had  to  re- 
turn near  the  stream  when  we  camped, 
in  order  to  get  water. 

One  day,  off  to  the  west,  a  mile  or 
two  away,  we  saw  a  single  buffalo 
which  had  probably  been  outlawed  and 
driven  from  the  herd  to  wander  in  soli- 
tude over  the  plains.  Our  pony  had 

22 


A   GOLD    HUNTER'S    EXPERIENCE 

crossed  the  plains  before  and  was  well 
used  to  buffalo.  Sollitt  mounted  him, 
and,  rifle  in  hand,  rode  for  the  lone  beast. 
When  approached  he  began  to  run,  but 
the  horse  soon  overtook  him,  and  he 
received  a  bullet.  Then  he  turned 
savagely  on  the  horse  and  rider,  and, 
with  head  down,  chased  them  at  high 
speed  before  trying  to  escape.  The 
horse  overtook  him  a  second  time  and 
he  received  another  bullet.  Then  he 
charged  after  the  horse  and  rider  again. 
When  the  horse's  turn  to  chase  came 
next,  the  buffalo  received  a  third  shot 
and  soon  fell  dead.  This  was  quite 
exciting  sport  for  us  ' ' tenderfeet "  who 
had  never  seen  a  buffalo  hunt. 

Sollitt,  who  was  a  butcher  by  trade, 
was  now  in  his  glory.  He  rode  back 
to  camp,  sharpened  his  knives  and  with 
the  help  of  one  or  two  of  the  men 
carved  up  the  animal  and  brought  back 
a  supply  of  fresh  meat.  This  proved, 
rather  tough  as  the  animal  was  an  old 
23 


A   GOLD    HUNTER'S    EXPERIENCE 

bull,  nevertheless  the  tongue  and  the 
tenderloin  were  relished,  after  having 
eaten  only  salt  pork  for  three  weeks. 

The  small  stream  of  water  in  the 
Little  Blue  grew  less  and  less  as  we 
approached  its  source,  and  the  last 
night  that  we  camped  near  it,  there 
was  no  running  water  at  all.  The  little 
that  was  to  be  seen  stood  in  stagnant 
pools  in  the  bottom  of  the  river  bed. 
When  we  would  approach  these  pools, 
turtles,  frogs  and  snakes  in  great 
variety,  that  had  been  sunning  them- 
selves on  the  banks,  would  tumble, 
jump  and  crawl  into  the  water,  and 
countless  tadpoles  wiggled  in  the  mud, 
at  the  bottom,  so  that  the  water  was 
soon  black  and  thick.  Its  taste  and 
smell  were  anything  but  appetizing. 
The  oxen,  though  without  water  since 
morning,  refused  to  drink  it,  even  after 
we  had  dipped  it  up  in  pails  and  allowed 
it  to  settle.  We  boiled  it  for  the  coffee, 
but  the  odor  and  flavor  of  mud  still 


A    GOLD    HUNTER'S    EXPERIENCE 

remained.  The  situation  had  become 
serious  and  our  only  hope  was  to  reach 
the  Platte  river  before  the  oxen  were 
famished  from  thirst.  Earlier  in  the 
season,  before  the  streams  dried  up, 
this  was  a  favorite  route  of  travel,  but 
it  was  not  so  at  this  time  of  year  and 
we  saw  very  few  passing  teams. 

By  daylight  next  morning  the  oxen 
were  yoked  and  hitched  up  and  we 
commenced  a  forced  march  for  water 
and  salvation.  The  old  trail  seemed 
still  to  follow  the  course  of  the  dried-up 
stream,  bearing  much  to  the  west.  We 
concluded  to  leave  it  and  steer  more  to 
the  north  with  the  hope  of  striking  the 
Platte  at  the  nearest  point.  The 
prairie  was  hard  and  level,  the  day  not 
excessively  hot,  and  everything  was 
favorable  for  a  long  drive.  The  rule 
for  keeping  together  was  ignored  and 
each  team  was  to  be  urged  to  its  best 
speed,  in  the  hope  that  the  strong  and 
the  swift  would  reach  the  goal  though 
25 


A    GOLD    HUNTER'S    EXPERIENCE 

the  weak  and  the  weary  might  fall  by 
the  way. 

Before  noon  the  teams  were  much 
separated.  They  halted  for  a  nooning ; 
the  oxen  browsed  a  little  on  sage  brush 
and  dried  grass;  the  men  lunched  on 
crackers,  cold  coffee  and  the  remnants 
of  breakfast,  but  our  water  keg  was 
empty.  By  the  time  the  last  team  was 
at  the  nooning  place,  the  head  ones 
were  ready  to  start  on. 

Sollitt  rode  ahead  to  explore  and  pick 
out  the  road,  carrying  his  rifle  on  the 
saddle,  as  we  were  liable  at  any  time  to 
meet  bands  of  treacherous,  pillaging 
Pawnees,  whose  haunts  were  on  the 
lower  Platte.  I  formed  the  rear  guard 
with  the  hindmost  wagon,  so  that  it 
would  not  be  deserted  and  alone  in  case 
of  accident.  Each  team  was  always  in 
sight  of  the  next  one  ahead  of  it,  though 
the  train  was  stretched  out  some  three 
miles  long.  Late  in  the  afternoon  Sollitt 
rode  back  with  the  cheering  news  that 
26 


A   GOLD    HUNTER'S    EXPERIENCE 

he  had  seen  the  Stars  and  Stripes 
waving  over  Fort  Kearney  to  the  west 
and  that  he  had  picked  out  a  camping 
ground  near  the  river  a  few  miles  below. 
Soon  after  dark  the  last  team  was  in 
camp  and  the  men  and  beasts  were 
luxuriating  in  the  clear  running  water 
of  the  Platte. 

The  next  forenoon  we  drove  on  to 
the  fort  and  camped  a  mile  or  two  west 
of  it  for  a  day's  rest.  This  was  on  the 
2oth  of  August,  so  we  had  been  out 
twenty  days  on  the  road  from  St.  Joe. 
At  the  fort  was  a  postoffice  and  here 
we  received  letters  from  our  friends  in 
the  East,  and  spent  a  good  part  of  the 
day  in  writing,  in  response  to  them. 
Letters  were  brought  here  by  the 
coaches  of  the  overland  express  which 
carried  the  United  States  mail  to  Cali- 
fornia. 

The  fort  consisted  of  a  few  buildings 
surrounded  by  a  high  adobe  wall  for 
protection;  and  adjoining  was  a  strong 
27 


A   GOLD    HUNTER'S    EXPERIENCE 

stockade  for  horses  and  oxen.  There 
were  a  few  United  States  troops  here. 
Just  outside  the  fort  grounds  were  some 
ranches,  stores,  saloons  and  trading 
posts.  The  two  Missourians  proceeded 
forthwith  to  get  dead  drunk  and  it  took 
them  till  next  day  to  sober  up.  By 
way  of  apology  they  said  the  whisky 
tasted  "so  good"  after  being  so  long 
without  it.  We  had  no  whisky  on  our 
train.  It  was  one  of  the  very  few  that 
crossed  the  plains  in  those  days  without 
that,  so  considered,  essential  article  in 
frontier  life. 

Personally,  through  the  entire  period 
of  my  ' '  Pike's  Peak  "  experience,  I  ad- 
hered strictly  to  my  custom  of  not 
tasting  spirituous  or  malt  liquors,  nor 
using  tobacco  in  any  form. 

We  were  now  on  the  main  central 
route  of  travel  from  the  States  to  the 
mountains,  Salt  Lake,  California  and 
Oregon.  We  saw  teams  and  trains 
daily  going  in  both  directions,  and 
28 


A   GOLD    HUNTER'S    EXPERIENCE 

Kearney  was  a  favorite  place  for  them 
to  stop  over  a  day  and  rest.  Our 
course  now  lay  along  the  south  side 
of  the  Platte,  clear  to  Denver ;  and 
with  the  prospect  of  level  roads  and 
plenty  of  grass  and  water,  we  looked 
forward  hopefully  to  a  pleasant  trip  the 
rest  of  the  way.  The  valley  of  the 
Platte  is  a  sandy  plain,  nearly  level, 
extending  westward  for  hundreds  of 
miles  from  Kearney,  bounded  on  the 
north  and  the  south  by  low  bluffs,  some 
four  or  five  miles  apart.  Back  of  these 
lie  the  more  elevated,  dry  plains  ex- 
tending to  great  distances. 

Winding  through  this  valley  is  the 
Platte  river,  a  half  a  mile  or  more 
wide,  with  water  from  an  inch  to  two 
feet  deep,  running  over  a  sandy  bottom 
and  filled  with  numberless  islands  of 
shifting  sand.  The  banks  were  lined 
with  willows  and  cottonwood  bushes 
and  bordered  in  many  places  by  green, 
grassy  meadows,  but  trees  were  a  rarity 
29 


A   GOLD    HUNTER'S    EXPERIENCE 

and  for  some  two  hundred  miles  we  did 
not  see  one  larger  than  a  good  sized 
bush. 

The  day  we  camped  near  Kearney 
we  began  to  see  buffalo  in  small  groups 
off  a  few  miles  to  the  south  and  west. 
When  I  awoke  next  morning,  soon  after 
daylight,  I  saw  a  lone  one  quietly  eating 
grass  about  half  a  mile  from  camp.  I 
got  out  a  rifle  and  went  toward  him, 
stooping  or  going  on  my  hands  and 
knees  through  the  wet  grass,  till  within 
good  rifle  shot.  I  then  stood  up, 
took  deliberate  aim  just  behind  the 
shoulder,  and  fired.  He  gave  a  quick 
jump,  looked  around  and  started  to- 
ward me  on  the  run  with  head  down, 
in  usual  fashion,  for  a  charge.  My 
thought  was  that  I  had  hit,  but  not 
hurt  him.  I  dropped  into  the  grass  and 
made  my  way  on  hands  and  knees  as 
fast  as  possible  toward  camp,  a  little 
agitated.  Losing  sight  of  me  the  ani- 
mal soon  stopped,  stood  still  a  few 
30 


A   GOLD    HUNTER'S    EXPERIENCE 

minutes  and  then  suddenly  dropped  to 
the  ground.  He  had  been  shot  through 
the  heart. 

This  was  my  first  and  last  buffalo,  as 
sneaking  up  to  them  and  shooting  them 
down  did  not  seem  much  more  like 
sport  than  shooting  down  oxen.  I  was 
neither  a  sufficiently  expert  rider  nor 
hunter  to  chase  and  shoot  them  on 
horseback.  The  one  I  shot  was  carved 
by  Sollitt  and  one  of  the  men,  and  fur- 
nished us  fresh  meat  for  breakfast  and 
several  meals  thereafter. 

During  the  day  we  passed  a  ranch, 
occupied  by  a  man  and  his  son,  twelve 
or  fourteen  years  old.  The  boy  had 
eight  or  ten  buffalo  calves  in  a  pen, 
which  he  said  he  had  caught  himself 
and  intended  to  sell  to  parties  return- 
ing to  their  homes  in  the  East.  He  had 
a  well-trained  little  pony,  which  he 
would  mount,  with  a  rope  in  hand  that 
had  a  noose  at  the  end,  and  ride  di- 
rectly into  the  midst  of  a  small  drove 
31 


A    GOLD    HUNTER'S    EXPERIENCE 

of  buffalo,  and  while  they  scattered  and 
ran  would  slip  his  rope  about  the  neck 
of  a  calf  and  lead  it  back  to  the  ranch . 
The  calf  would  side  up  to  the  pony  and 
follow  it  along  as  if  under  the  delusion 
that  it  was  following  its  mother.  The 
man  traded  in  cattle  by  picking  up 
estrays  and  buying,  for  a  song,  those 
that  were  footsore  and  sick,  keeping 
them  till  in  condition  and  then  selling 
them  to  passing  trains  that  were  in 
need. 

We  now  began  to  see  buffalo  quite 
plentifully  off  to  the  southwest,  in  small 
groups,  and  in  droves  of  twenty  or 
more.  Sometimes  hunters  on  horse- 
back, who  had  camped  near  Kearney, 
were  indulging  in  the  excitement  of  the 
hunt,  chasing  and  shooting,  and  in  turn 
being  chased  by  the  enraged  animals. 
That  evening  we  camped  on  the  verge 
of  the  great  herd  that  extended  some 
sixty  or  seventy  miles  to  the  westward, 
and  blackened  the  bluffs  to  the  south, 
32 


A   GOLD    HUNTER'S    EXPERIENCE 

and  the  great  plains  beyond  as  far  as 
the  eye  could  reach.  This  great  herd 
was  not  a  solid,  continuous  mass,  but 
was  divided  up  into  innumerable  smaller 
herds  or  droves  consisting  of  from  fifty 
to  two  hundred  animals  each.  These 
kept  together  when  grazing,  marching 
or  running,  the  bulls  on  the  outside  and 
the  cows  and  calves  in  the  center. 
Sometimes  these  small  herds  were  sepa- 
rated from  each  other  by  a  considerable 
space. 

This  great  herd  had  probably  started 
northward  from  the  Arkansas  in  the 
spring  and  had  now  reached  the  Platte, 
where  they  lingered  for  water  and  the 
better  grass  that  was  found  along  the 
river.  Following  in  the  wake  and 
prowling  on  the  outskirts  of  this  slowly 
moving  host,  were  thousands  of  wolves, 
collected  from  the  distant  plains,  to 
feast  upon  the  young  and  the  weakly, 
and  the  carcasses  of  those  that  were 
killed  by  accident  or  the  hunter's  gun. 

33 


A   GOLD    HUNTER'S    EXPERIENCE 

The  turn  for  watching  the  cattle  the 
first  half  of  that  night  fell  to  the  lot  of 
two  of  the  boys  from  Chicago.     The 
cattle  were  grazing  in  a  good  meadow 
off  toward  the  river,  half  a  mile  from 
camp.     At  dusk  the  boys  went  off  to 
take  charge  of  them.     After  dark  the 
wolves  began  to  howl  in  all  directions 
and  sometimes  it  sounded  as  if  a  hun- 
dred hungry  ones  were  fighting  over  a 
single  carcass.     Then  the  buffalo  bulls 
chimed  in  with  the  music  and  bellowed, 
apparently  by  thousands,  at  the  same 
time.     Pandemonium  seemed  to  reign. 
The  two  boys  got  nervous,  then  fright- 
ened  and    finally   panic-stricken,    and 
long  before  midnight  came  rushing  into 
camp   declaring   that   they    were   sur- 
rounded  by  droves  of  hungry  wolves 
and  furious  buffalo.     The  cattle  were 
also  disturbed  and  inclined  to  scatter 
and  wander  off. 

Next  morning  early,  all  of  us,  except 
the  cook,  started  off  to  hunt  them  up. 

34 


A   GOLD    HUNTER'S    EXPERIENCE 

Some  went  up  stream,  some  down,  and 
some  back  along  the  road  we  had  come. 
Tobias  and  myself  waded  the  river  to 
the  north  side  to  hunt  them  there,  but 
we  found  neither  cattle  nor  cattle  tracks. 
We  did  find  a  huge  rattlesnake,  which 
we  killed.  The  river  was  about  three- 
quarters  of  a  mile  wide,  and  in  no  place 
over  two  feet  deep.  Wading  it  was 
easy  enough  if  one  kept  moving,  but  if 
he  stood  still  he  would  gradually  sink 
into  the  quicksand  till  it  was  difficult  to 
extricate  his  feet. 

By  noon,  after  this  thorough  search, 
we  had  collected  all  of  our  oxen  but 
two,  which  could  not  be  found.  Sollitt 
was  very  suspicious  of  cattle  thieves, 
and,  whenever  an  ox  was  lost,  his  first 
opinion  was  that  it  had  been  stolen. 
Mine  was  that  it  had  strayed  off  and 
hidden  in  some  ravine  or  clump  of 
bushes.  He  decided  that  these  two 
lost  ones  had  been  taken  by  some  ranch- 
man or  passing  train.  I  believed  they 

35 


A    GOLD    HUNTER'S    EXPERIENCE 

had  gone  off  with  the  buffalo  and  that 
when  they  wanted  drink  badly  they 
would  come  back  to  the  river.  I  there- 
fore concluded  to  let  the  train  go  on, 
while  I,  with  the  pony  and  some  food, 
would  stay  behind  and  patrol  the  river 
for  a  day  or  two.  I  rode  back  eastward 
along  the  river's  edge,  searching  in  the 
bushes,  and  at  night  came  to  a  ranch, 
near  which  I  picketed  the  pony  and 
slept  on  the  ground.  Next  morning, 
after  first  examining  the  ranchman's 
cattle,  I  started  westward  again,  mak- 
ing another  thorough  search  as  I  went 
along.  In  the  afternoon  I  found  the 
stragglers  quietly  eating  grass  near  the 
river,  and  then  drove  them  along  as 
fast  as  possible  till  the  train  was  over- 
taken. 

We  were  now  right  in  the  midst  of 
the  great  herd,  through  which  we  jour- 
neyed for  nearly  five  days.  The  anx- 
iety they  gave  us  was  greater  than  that 
of  any  of  our  previous  troubles.  To 
36 


A   GOLD    HUNTER'S   EXPERIENCE 

avoid  having  the  oxen  stampeded,  or 
run  off  with  the  buffalo  at  night,  we 
wheeled  our  wagons  into  a  circle  when 
camping  at  the  end  of  a  day's  drive, 
and  thus  formed  a  corral,  into  which  we 
put  as  many  oxen  as  it  would  hold,  for 
the  night,  and  chained  the  rest  in  their 
yokes  to  the  wagon  wheels  on  the  out- 
side. This  was  hard  on  the  oxen,  as 
they  could  not  rest  as  well  as  when  free, 
nor  could  they  graze  a  part  of  the  night, 
as  was  their  habit.  Whenever  we 
looked  off  to  the  south  or  southwest, 
we  would  see  dozens  and  dozens  of  the 
small  droves  of  one  or  two  hundred 
buffalo  moving  about  in  all  directions. 
Some  of  the  droves  would  be  quietly 
eating  grass,  some  marching  in  a  slow, 
stately  walk,  and  others  on  the  run, 
going  back  and  forth  between  their 
grazing  grounds  and  the  river.  But 
each  separate  drove  kept  in  quite  a 
compact  body. 

Sometimes  they  would  keep  off  from 

37 


A  GOLD  HUNTER'S  EXPERIENCE 

the  trail  along  which  we  traveled,  for 
several  hours  at  a  time  and  not  trouble 
us.  At  other  times  they  would  be  going 
in  such  great  numbers  across  our  route, 
passing  to  and  from  the  river,  that  we 
had  to  wait  hours  for  them  to  get  out 
of  our  way.  Often  a  drove  would  get 
frightened  at  a  passing  wagon,  the  re- 
port of  a  gun,  the  barking  of  a  dog,  or 
some  imaginary  enemy,  and  would  start 
on  a  run  which  soon  became  a  furious 
stampede,  the  hindermost  following 
those  before  them,  and  in  their  blind 
fury  crowding  them  forward  with  such 
irresistible  force  that  the  leaders  could 
not  stop  if  they  would.  If  they  came 
suddenly  to  a  deep  gully  the  foremost 
would  tumble  in  till  it  was  full,  and  thus 
form  a  bridge  of  bone  and  flesh  over 
which  the  rest  would  pass.  Several 
times  these  frightened  droves  passed 
so  near  our  wagons  as  to  be  alarming. 

One  drove  came  within  a  few  yards 
of  one  of  our  wagons,  and  some  of  the 
38 


A   GOLD    HUNTER'S    EXPERIENCE 

drivers  peppered  them  with  bullets  from 
their  pistols.  Though  these  frightened 
droves  could  not  be  stopped,  they  would 
shy  to  the  right  or  left  if  an  unusual 
commotion  was  made  in  time  in  front 
of  them.  When  a  drove,  at  some  dis- 
tance, seemed  to  be  headed  toward 
our  train,  we  often  ran  toward  it,  yell- 
ing, firing  guns,  and  waving  articles  of 
clothing.  The  leaders  would  shy  off, 
and  that  would  give  direction  to  the 
whole  body,  and  thus  relieve  us  from 
danger  for  the  time  being. 

Every  teamster,  traveler  and  hunter 
that  crossed  the  plains  felt  that  he  must 
kill  from  one  to  a  dozen  or  more  buf- 
falo. The  result  was  that  the  plain 
was  dotted  and  whitened  with  tens  of 
thousands  of  their  carcasses  and  skele- 
tons. With  this  general  slaughter  and 
the  increase  of  travel  induced  by  the 
discovery  of  the  Pike's  Peak  gold  fields, 
no  wonder  that  this  was  the  very  last 
year  that  these  animals  appeared  in 

39 


A   GOLD   HUNTER'S    EXPERIENCE 

large  numbers  in  the  Platte  valley. 
We  always  estimated  their  numbers  by 
the  million.*  For  some  years  after 
they  appeared  in  large  numbers  in  some 
parts  of  the  great  plains  of  the  West, 
but  they  rapidly  declined  in  number 
till  they  became  extinct  in  their  wild 
state. 

While  in  their  midst  we  not  only  had 
fresh  meat  at  every  meal,  but  we  cut 
the  flesh  in  strips  and  tied  it  to  the 
wagons  to  dry  and  thus  provided  a 
small  supply  of  " jerked"  meat.  In 
the  dry,  pure  air  of  this  region,  though 

*The  estimate  was  probably  not  an  exaggeration. 

In  a  late  work  it  is  stated  on  the  authority  of  railroad  statistics 
that  in  the  thirteen  years  from  1868  to  1881  "  in  Kansas  alone 
there  was  paid  out  two  millions  five  hundred  thousand  dollars 
for  their  bones  gathered  on  the  prairies  to  be  utilized  by  the  vari- 
ous carbon  works  of  the  country,  principally  in  St.  Louis.  It 
required  about  one  hundred  carcases  to  make  one  ton  of  bones, 
the  price  paid  averaging  eight  dollars  a  ton;  so  the  above  quoted 
enormous  sum  represented  the  skeletons  of  over  thirty-one  mil- 
lions of  buffal  o*—The  Old  Santa  Fe  Trail,  by  Col.  Henry  In- 
man  p.  203. 

The  author  further  says,  "  In  the  autumn  of  1868  I  rode  with 
Generals  Sheridan,  Custer,  Sully  and  others  for  three  consecu- 
tive days  through  one  continuous  herd,  which  must  have  con- 
tained millions.  In  the  spring  of  1869  the  train  on  the  Kansas 
Pacific  railroad  was  detained  at  a  point  between  Forts  Harker 
and  Hays  from  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning  until  five  in  the  after- 
noon in  consequence  of  the  passage  of  an  immense  herd  of  buf- 
falo across  the  track.1' 

Horace  Greeley  crossed  the  plains  in  1859  in  a  stage  coach,  and 
as  stated  in  his  published  letters,  he  saw  a  herd  of  buffalo  that 
he  estimated  to  contain  over  five  millions. 

40 


A   GOLD    HUNTER'S    EXPERIENCE 

in  the  heat  of  August,  fresh  meat  did 
not  spoil  but  simply  dried  up,  if  cut  in 
moderate  sized  pieces.  This  was  also 
found  to  be  the  case  with  fresh  beef  in 
the  mountains.  We  felt  relieved  and 
heartily  glad  when  the  last  drove  of 
buffalo  was  left  behind.  Familiarity 
with  them,  as  with  the  Indians,  de- 
stroyed all  the  poetry  and  romance 
about  them.  They  were  not  a  thing 
of  beauty.  An  old  buffalo  bull  with 
broken  horns  and  numerous  scars  from 
a  hundred  fights,  with  woolly  head  and 
shaggy  mane,  his  last  year's  coat  half 
shed  and  half  hanging  from  his  sides  in 
ragged  patches  and  strips  flying  in  the 
breeze,  the  whole  covered  over  with 
dirt  and  patches  of  dried  mud,  pre- 
sented a  picture  that  was  supremely 
ugly. 

On  the  journey  from  St.  Joe  to  Kear- 
ney we  found,  along  the  water  courses 
and  ravines,  enough  of  dry  wood  and 
dead  trees  to  supply  us  plentifully  with 

41 


A   GOLD    HUNTER'S    EXPERIENCE 

fuel  for  cooking  and  occasionally  to 
light  up  the  camp  in  the  evening.  To 
make  sure  of  never  being  entirely  out 
of  wood,  a  small  supply  was  carried 
along  on  the  wagons.  Along  the  Platte 
there  was  practically  no  wood  to  be 
had.  For  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles 
we  did  not  see  a  single  tree,  but  the 
buffalo  supplied  us  with  a  good  fuel 
called  ' '  buffalo  chips, "  which  was  scat- 
tered over  the  plains  in  abundance,  and 
which  in  this  dry  country,  burned  freely 
and  made  a  very  hot  fire,  When  ap- 
proaching camp  in  the  evening,  the 
drivers  would  pick  up  armsfull  of  fuel 
for  the  use  of  the  cook  and  for  the 
evening  camp  fire,  and  place  it  in  a 
pile  as  they  came  to  a  halt. 

As  soon  as  we  reached  camp  and 
while  others  were  taking  care  of  the 
oxen,  the  cook  built  a  fire,  drove  two 
forked  sticks  into  the  ground,  one  on 
each  side  of  the  fire,  placed  a  cross 
stick  on  them,  and  then  hung  his  pots 
42 


A   GOLD    HUNTER'S    EXPERIENCE 

and  kettle  over  the  blaze.  A  big  pot 
of  beans  with  pork  was  boiled  or 
warmed  over.  Coffee  was  prepared, 
and  dough  made  of  flour  and  baking 
powder  was  baked  either  in  the  tin  oven 
or  a  Dutch  oven.  Frequently  some  of 
the  men  were  seated  on  the  ground 
around  the  fire,  stick  in  hand  with  a 
piece  of  pork  on  the  end  of  it,  held 
near  the  coals  to  toast.  While  eating 
and  during  the  early  evening,  talking, 
story  telling  and  ironical  remarks  about 
the  prolonged  picnic  —  as  the  trip  was 
called  —  were  indulged  in. 

We  were  now  on  the  main  route  of 
travel  between  the  East  and  the  Pike's 
Peak  gold  fields.  Horse  and  mule 
teams  going  West,  and  traveling  faster 
than  our  ox  train  could  go,  passed  us 
frequently,  and  gave  us  the  latest  gen- 
eral news  from  the  States.  We  also 
began  to  meet  the  vanguard  of  the  re- 
turning army  of  disappointed  gold 
seekers.  They  came  on  foot,  on  horse 

43 


A   GOLD    HUNTER'S    EXPERIENCE 

back  and  in  wagons  drawn  by  horses, 
mules  and  oxen,  and  many  of  them 
were  a  sorry,  ragged  looking  lot.  Judg- 
ing from  their  requests  from  us,  their 
most  pressing  wants  were  tobacco  and 
whisky.  In  those  days  Western  towns 
were  full  of  enthusiastic,  sanguine, 
roving  men  who  were  ever  ready  for 
any  new  enterprise,  and  they  were  the 
first  to  rush  to  the  gold  regions  in  the 
spring.  But  lacking  pluck,  persever- 
ance and  the  staying  qualities,  they 
were  the  first  to  rush  back  when  the 
difficulties  and  discouragements  of  the 
undertaking  appeared  in  their  way. 

These  returners  told  sad  stories 
about  life  in  the  mountains,  the  pros- 
pects and  the  danger  from  Indians  on 
the  road.  They  said  that  there  was 
but  little  gold  to  be  found,  that  very 
few  of  the  miners  were  making  expen- 
ses, that  food  was  scarce,  and  that  be- 
fore we  reached  our  destination,  nearly 
everybody  there  would  be  leaving  for 

44 


A    GOLD    HUNTER'S    EXPERIENCE 

home.  Besides,  they  said,  there  were 
hundreds  of  Indians  along  the  route, 
robbing  and  murdering  the  whites. 
Such  stories  had  a  discouraging  effect 
on  some  of  our  drivers  and  I  was 
very  fearful  that  a  few  of  them  would 
leave  us  and  join  the  homeward  pro- 
cession. 

Some  of  these  chaps  showed  a  hu- 
morous vein  in  the  mottoes  painted  on 
the  sides  of  their  wagons.  On  one  was 
* '  Pike's  Peak  or  bust, "  evidently  writ- 
ten on  going  out;  under  it  was  written, 
' '  Busted. "  On  another  was,  ' '  Ho  for 
Pike's  Peak;''  under  it  was,  "Ho  for 
Sweet  Home." 

Each  exaggerated  account  of  the  In- 
dians made  by  these  people,  brought  us 
nearer  and  nearer  to  them  and  made 
them  seem  more  and  more  dangerous. 
Finally  one  morning  as  we  reached 
the  top  of  a  gentle  swell  in  the  plain,  a 
large  band  of  them  suddenly  appeared 
in  full  view,  camped  at  the  side  of 

45 


A   GOLD    HUNTER'S    EXPERIENCE 

our  road  about  half  a  mile  ahead  of  us. 
From  all  appearances  there  were  five 
or  six  hundred  or  more  of  them.  They 
belonged  to  the  western  branch  of  the 
Sioux  tribe.  We  stopped  a  few  min- 
utes to  consider  the  situation.  We  had 
heard  and  read  enough  about  Western 
Indians  to  know  that  the  safest  thing 
to  do  was  to  appear  bold  and  strong, 
while  a  show  of  weakness  and  timidity 
was  often  dangerous.  So  we  placed  in 
our  belts  all  our  ornaments  in  the 
shape  of  pistols  and  ugly  looking 
knives,  and  those  who  had  rifles  carried 
them.  Then  we  drove  boldly  forward 
toward  the  camp.  I  rode  the  pony 
beside  the  driver  of  the  foremost  wagon 
with  my  old  shot  gun  in  hand.  Soon 
two  or  three  of  their  mounted  warriors 
or  hunters  rode  at  full  speed  toward  us 
and  then  without  stopping  circled  off  on 
the  plain  and  back  to  their  camp. 
They  were  evidently  making  observa- 
tions. 

46 


A   GOLD    HUNTER'S    EXPERIENCE 

Off  to  the  north  several  hundred 
shaggy  ponies  were  grazing  in  a  green 
meadow  near  the  river,  and  the  greater 
part  of  their  men  seemed  to  be  there 
with  them.  The  camp  was  made  up 
of  some  forty  lodges,  which  looked  like 
so  many  cones  grouped  on  the  plain. 

These  lodges  were  formed  of  poles, 
some  fifteen  feet  long,  the  larger  ends 
of  which  rested  on  the  ground  in  a  cir- 
cle, while  the  smaller  ends  were  fast- 
ened in  a  bunch  at  the  top,  with  a 
covering  of  dressed  buffalo  skins  stitched 
together.  On  one  side  was  a  low  open- 
ing, which  served  for  a  door. 

As  we  approached  we  were  first 
greeted  by  a  lot  of  dirty,  hungry  look- 
ing dogs,  which  barked  at  us,  snarled 
and  showed  their  teeth.  Then  there 
was  a  flock  of  shy,  naked,  staring  chil- 
dren who  at  first  kept  at  a  safe  distance, 
but  came  nearer  as  their  timidity  left 
them.  The  boys  with  their  little  bows 
and  arrows  were  shooting  at  targets — 

47 


A   GOLD    HUNTER'S    EXPERIENCE 

taking  their  first  lessons  as  future  war- 
riors of  the  tribe. 

When  we  got  near  the  edge  of  the 
camp  several  of  the  old  men  came  for- 
ward to  greet  us  with  extended  hands, 
saying  *  *  how !  how  !  how  ! "  and  we  had 
to  have  a  handshake  all  around.  Some 
of  them  knew  a  few  words  of  English. 
They  asked  for  whisky,  powder  and 
tobacco.  Instead,  we  gave  some  of 
them  a  little  cold  "grub."  They  looked 
over  all  the  wagons  and  their  contents, 
so  far  as  they  could,  and  were  particu- 
larly interested  in  the  locomotive  boiler 
which  was  placed  on  the  running  gear 
of  a  wagon  without  the  box,  and  with 
the  help  of  a  little  rude  imagination, 
somewhat  resembled  a  huge  cannon. 
I  told  them  it  was  a  ' '  big  shoot, "  and 
that  seemed  to  inspire  them  with  great 
respect  for  it.  They  looked  under  it 
and  over  it  and  into  it  with  much  in- 
terest. 

The  greater  part  of  the  squaws  were 
48 


A    GOLD    HUNTER'S    EXPERIENCE 

seated  on  the  ground  at  the  openings 
of  their  lodges,  busily  at  work.  Some 
were  dressing  skins  by  scraping  and 
rubbing  them,  some  making  moccasins 
and  leggings  for  their  lazy  lords,  some 
stringing  beads  and  others  preparing 
food.  The  oldest  ones,  thin,  haggard 
and  bronzed,  looked  like  witches.  The 
young  squaws,  in  their  teens,  round  and 
plump,  their  faces  bedaubed  with  red 
paint  toned  down  with  dirt,  squatted  on 
the  ground  and  grinned  with  delight 
when  gazed  at  by  our  crew  of  young 
men.  We  all  traded  something  for 
moccasins  and  for  the  rest  of  the  trip 
wore  them  instead  of  shoes. 

Curious  to  see  inside  of  the  lodges,  I 
took  a  cup  of  sugar  and  went  into  two 
or  three  under  pretence  of  trading  it  for 
moccasins.  Their  belongings  were  ly- 
ing around  in  piles,  and  the  stench  from 
the  partly  prepared  skins  and  food  was 
intolerable. 

One  old  Indian  seemed  to  think  that 

49 


A   GOLD    HUNTER'S    EXPERIENCE 

I  was  hunting  a  wife,  for  he  offered  to 
trade  me  one  of  his  young  squaws  for 
the  pony.  A  pony  was  the  usual  price 
of  a  wife  with  these  Western  Indians. 
They  exhibited  no  hostility  whatever 
toward  us.  It  might  have  been  other- 
wise, had  we  been  a  weak  party  of  two 
or  three  possessing  something  that  they 
coveted. 

They  asked  us  if  we  saw  any  buffalo. 
When  we  told  them  that  at  a  distance  of 
two  or  three  days'  travel  the  plains  were 
covered  with  them,  they  seemed  greatly 
interested  and  before  we  got  away  be- 
gan to  take  down  some  of  their  lodges 
and  start  off.  They  were  out  for  their 
yearly  buffalo  hunt  to  supply  them- 
selves with  meat  for  the  winter.  In 
moving  they  tied  one  end  of  their  lodge 
poles  in  bunches  to  their  ponies  and  let 
the  other  ends  spread  out  and  drag 
upon  the  ground,  and  on  these  dragging 
poles  they  piled  their  skins  and  other 
possessions.  The  young  children  and 
50 


A    GOLD    HUNTER'S    EXPERIENCE 

old  squaws  would  often  climb  up  on 
these  and  ride. 

Cactus  plants  in  hundreds  of  varie- 
ties grew  in  great  abundance  on  these 
dry  plains.  They  were  beautiful  to  the 
eye,  but  a  thorn  in  the  flesh.  As  we 
walked  through  them  their  sharp  needles 
would  run  through  trousers  and  mocca- 
sins and  penetrate  legs  and  feet.  We 
often  ate  the  sickishly  sweet  little  pears 
that  were  seen  in  profusion. 

Prairie  dogs  by  the  million  lived  and 
burrowed  in  the  ground  over  a  vast  re- 
gion. The  plains  were  dotted  all  over 
with  the  little  mounds  about  two  feet 
high  that  surrounded  their  holes.  On 
these  mounds  the  little  animals  would 
stand  up  and  bark  till  one  approached 
quite  near,  then  dart  into  the  holes. 
In  places  the  ground  was  honeycombed 
with  their  small  tunnels,  endangering 
the  legs  of  horses  and  oxen,  which 
would  break  through  the  crust  of  ground 
into  them.  I  shot  at  many  of  them, 
51 


A   GOLD    HUNTER'S    EXPERIENCE 

but  never  got  a  single  animal,  as  they 
always  dropped,  either  dead  or  alive, 
into  the  hole  and  disappeared  from 
sight. 

Many  small  owls  sat  with  a  wise  look 
on  top  of  these  little  mounds,  and  rat- 
tlesnakes, too,  were  often  found  there. 
When  disturbed  the  owls  and  snakes 
would  quickly  fly  and  crawl  into  the 
holes.  It  was  a  saying  that  a  prairie 
dog,  an  owl  and  a  rattlesnake  lived  to- 
gether in  peace  in  the  same  hole. 
Whether  the  latter  two  were  welcome 
guests  of  the  little  animal,  or  forced 
themselves  upon  his  hospitality,  in  his 
cool  retreat,  I  never  knew. 

One  day  we  came  to  a  wide  stretch 
of  loose  dry  sand,  devoid  of  vegetation, 
over  which  we  had  to  go.  It  looked 
like  some  ancient  lake  or  river  bottom. 
The  white  sand  reflected  the  sun's  rays 
and  made  it  unpleasantly  hot.  The 
wheels  sank  into  the  sand  and  made  it 
so  hard  a  pull  for  the  oxen  that  we  had 
52 


A   GOLD    HUNTER'S    EXPERIENCE 

to  double  up  teams,  taking  one  wagon 
through  and  going  back  for  another,  so 
we  only  made  about  three  miles  that 
day. 

The  unexpected  was  always  happen- 
ing to  delay  us.  The  trip  was  dragging 
out  longer  than  was  first  reckoned  on, 
and  the  early  enthusiasm  was  dying 
out.  Walking  slowly  along  nine  or  ten 
hours  a  day  grew  monotonous  and  tire- 
some. Then,  after  the  day's  work,  to 
watch  cattle  one-half  of  every  third 
night  was  a  lonely,  dreary  task,  and 
became  intolerably  wearisome.  Stand- 
ing or  strolling  alone,  half  a  mile  from 
camp,  in  the  darkness,  often  not  a  sound 
to  be  heard  except  the  howling  of  the 
wolves,  and  nothing  visible  but  the  sky 
above  and  the  ground  below,  one  felt 
as  if  his  only  friends  and  companions 
were  his  knife  and  his  pistol. 

In  the  early  part  of  September  vio- 
lent thunderstorms  came  up  every 
evening  or  night,  with  the  appearance 

53 


A   GOLD    HUNTER'S    EXPERIENCE 

of  an  approaching  deluge.  Very  little 
rain  fell,  however,  but  the  lightning  and 
thunder  were  the  most  terrific  I  ever 
saw  or  heard.  There  being  no  trees  or 
other  high  objects  around,  we  were  as 
likely  to  be  struck  as  any  thing.  For 
a  few  wet  nights  I  crawled  into  one  of 
the  covered  wagons  to  sleep,  where 
some  provisions  had  been  taken  out, 
and  right  on  top  of  twelve  kegs  of 
powder.  I  sometimes  mused  over  the 
probable  results,  in  case  lightning  were 
to  strike  that  wagon.  We  passed  one 
grave  of  three  men  who  had  been  killed 
by  a  single  stroke  of  lightning.  Graves 
of  those  who  had  given  up  the  struggle 
of  life  on  the  way,  were  seen  quite  fre- 
quently along  the  route.  They  were 
often  marked  by  inscriptions,  made  by 
the  companions  of  the  dead  ones  on 
pieces  of  board  planted  in  the  graves. 

Now  we  came  to  extensive  alkali 
plains,  covered  with  soda,  white  as  new 
fallen  snow,  glittering  in  the  sunshine. 

54 


A   GOLD    HUNTER'S    EXPERIENCE 

No  vegetation  grew  and  all  was  deso- 
lation. An  occasional  shower  left  little 
pools  of  water  here  and  there,  strongly 
impregnated  with  alkali,  and  from  them 
the  oxen  would  occasionally  take  a 
drink.  From  that  cause,  or  some  other 
unknown  one,  they  began  to  die  off  rap- 
idly, and  within  three  days  one-third  of 
them  were  gone.  The  remainder  were 
too  few  to  pull  the  heavy  train.  The 
situation  was  such  that  it  gave  us  great 
anxiety. 

What  was  to  be  done?  Either  leave 
part  behind  and  go  on  to  Denver  with 
what  we  could  take,  or  else  keep  things 
together  by  taking  some  of  the  wagons 
on  for  a  few  miles  and  then  go  back  for 
the  rest.  The  conclusion  was  to  leave 
four  loads  of  heavy  machinery  on  the 
plains  and  go  on  with  the  other  wagons 
as  fast  as  possible.  I  asked  the  drivers 
if  any  of  them  would  stay  and  guard 
those  to  be  left.  Tobias  and  the  Ger- 
man volunteered  to  stay. 

55 


A   GOLD    HUNTER'S    EXPERIENCE 

We  selected  a  camping  spot  a  mile 
away  from  the  usually  traveled  road  so 
as  to  avoid  the  scrutiny  of  other  pil- 
grims and  look  like  a  small  party  camp- 
ing to  rest.  Then  we  left  them  provi- 
sions for  two  or  three  weeks  and  went 
ahead.  We  guessed  that  we  were  then 
about  150  miles  from  Denver.  The 
two  left  behind  had  no  mishaps,  but 
found  their  stay  there  all  alone  for  two 
weeks  very  dreary  and  lonesome. 

Tobias  was  for  over  a  year  one  of 
my  most  valuable  and  agreeable  assist- 
ants. The  German,  when  in  the  moun- 
tains a  short  time,  lost  his  eyes  by 
a  premature  blast  of  powder  in  a  mining 
shaft.  I  helped  provide  funds  to  send 
him  East  to  his  friends. 

A  few  days  before  this  misfortune  of 
the  death  of  our  oxen  and  when  the 
drivers  were  in  their  most  discontented 
mood,  Sollitt,  ever  suspicious,  came 
to  me  quite  agitated  with  a  tale  of 
gloomy  forebodings.  He  said  he  had 
56 


A   GOLD    HUNTER'S    EXPERIENCE 

overheard  fragments  of  a  talk  between 
the  Missourians  and  some  others  who 
were  quite  friendly  with  them,  which 
convinced  him  that  a  conspiracy  was 
hatching  to  terminate  the  tiresome  trip, 
by  their  deserting  us  in  a  body,  injuring 
or  driving  off  the  oxen,  or  committing 
some  more  tragic  act.  He  thereupon 
armed  himself  heavily  with  his  small 
weapons,  and  advised  me  to  do  the 
same. 

Instead  of  following  the  advice,  I 
became  more  chatty  and  friendly  with 
the  men  and  talked  of  our  trials  and 
our  better  prospects.  I  discovered  in  a 
few  a  bitter  feeling  toward  Sollitt,  oc- 
casioned by  some  rough  words  or  treat- 
ment they  had  received.  Sollitt  was 
honest  and  faithful  and  in  many  things 
very  efficient,  but  was  devoid  of  tact 
and  agreeable  ways  toward  those  un- 
der his  control,  especially  if  he  took  a 
dislike  to  them.  One  man  urged  me 
to  assert  my  reserved  authority  and 

57 


A   GOLD    HUNTER'S    EXPERIENCE 

take  direct  charge  of  the  whole  business 
of  the  train  to  the  exclusion  of  Sollitt. 
I  had  no  longings  for  the  disagreeable 
task  of  a  train  master,  and  simply 
poured  oil  on  the  troubled  waters,  and 
went  ahead. 

When  the  oxen  began  to  die  off, 
Sollitt  told  me  that  he  thought  one  of 
the  Missourians  had  poisoned  them  and 
he  disemboweled  a  number  of  the  dead 
animals  to  see  if  the  cause  of  death 
could  be  discovered.  He  found  no 
signs  of  poison  and  nothing  that  looked 
suspicious  in  the  stomachs;  but  he  said, 
the  spleens  of  all  of  them  were  in  a 
high  state  of  inflammation.  I  did  not, 
however,  understand  that  the  oxen  got 
their  ailment  from  the  Missourians. 

One  evening  we  saw  the  clear  cut 
outline  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  includ- 
ing Long's  Peak.  We  differed  in 
opinion,  at  first,  as  to  whether  it  was 
mountain  or  cloud  and  could  not  decide 
the  question  till  next  morning,  when, 
58 


A   GOLD    HUNTER'S    EXPERIENCE 

as  it  was  still  in  view,  we  knew  it  was 
mountain.  For  several  days,  though 
traveling  directly  toward  the  moun- 
tains, we  seemed  to  get  no  nearer, 
which  was  rather  discouraging. 

Small  flocks  of  antelope,  fleet  and 
graceful,  were  frequently  seen  gliding 
over  the  plain.  They  were  very  shy, 
and  kept  several  gunshots  away.  But 
their  curiosity  was  great,  and  if  a  man 
would  lie  down  on  the  ground  and  wave 
a  flag  or  handkerchief  tied  to  a  stick 
till  they  noticed  it,  they  would  first 
gaze  at  it  intently  and  then  gradually 
approach.  In  this  way  they  were  often 
enticed  by  hunters  to  come  near  enough 
for  a  shot. 

Forty  or  fifty  miles  below  Denver  we 
came  in  view  of  one  picturesque  ruin — 
old  Fort  St.  Vrain — with  its  high,  thick 
walls  of  adobe  situated  on  the  north 
side  of  the  Platte.  It  was  built  about 
twenty-five  years  before,  by  Ceran  St. 
Vrain,  an  old  trapper  and  Indian  trader. 

59 


A    GOLD    HUNTER'S    EXPERIENCE 

These  adobe  walls,  standing  well  pre- 
served in  this  climate,  it  seemed  to  me, 
would  be  leveled  to  the  ground  by  one 
or  two  good  eastern  equinoxial  storms. 
We  reached  Denver  on  the  i8th  of 
September  about  noon,  being  forty-nine 
days  out  from  St.  Joe.  Stubbs  met  us 
five  or  six  miles  out  on  the  road.  This 
gave  him  and  me  a  chance,  as  we 
walked  along,  to  talk  over  the  condi- 
tion of  things  and  our  plans  for  the  im- 
mediate future.  He  had  been  in  Den- 
ver over  a  week  waiting  for  us  and  had 
had  no  tidings  of  the  train  since  I  wrote 
him  from  Fort  Kearney.  He  had  con- 
siderable liking  for  display  and  had 
evidently  told  people  in  Denver  that 
he  was  waiting  for  the  arrival  of  a  large 
train  of  machinery  and  goods  in  which 
he  was  interested.  He  thought  it 
would  be  a  scene  to  be  proud  of  to  see 
fourteen  new  wagons,  heavily  loaded 
and  drawn  by  forty  yoke  of  oxen,  come 
marching  into  town  in  one  close  file. 
60 


A    GOLD    HUNTER'S    EXPERIENCE 

When  he  saw  only  nine  wagons  strag- 
gling along  over  the  space  of  a  mile, 
covered  with  dust  that  had  been  set- 
tling on  them  for  weeks,  with  oxen  lean, 
footsore,  limping  and  begrimed  with 
sweat  and  dirt,  and  teamsters  in  clothes 
faded,  soiled  and  ragged,  his  pride  sank 
to  a  low  level,  and  he  did  not  want  to 
go  into  town  with  the  wagons.  The 
train  did  not  tarry,  but  crossed  Cherry 
Creek — then  entirely  dry,  though  often 
a  torrent — drove  up  the  Platte  a  mile 
or  so  and  camped  for  the  day  on  the 
south  or  east  side  of  the  stream. 
Stubbs  and  I  spent  a  couple  of  hours 
looking  over  the  town  and  calling  on 
some  acquaintances  and  then  went  to 
the  camp. 

Denver  was  at  that  time  a  lively 
place,  with  a  few  dozen  frame  and  log 
buildings,  and  probably  a  thousand  or 
more  people.  Most  of  them  lived  and 
did  business  in  tents  and  wagons.  A 
Mr.  Forrest,  whom  I  had  known  in 

61 


A    GOLD    HUNTER'S    EXPERIENCE 

Chicago,  was  doing  a  banking  business 
here  in  a  tent.  The  town  seemed  to  be 
full  of  wagons  and  merchandise,  con- 
sisting of  food,  clothing  and  all  kinds  of 
tools  and  articles  used  in  mining. 
Many  people  were  preparing  to  leave 
for  the  States,  some  to  spend  the  win- 
ter and  to  return,  others,  more  discour- 
aged or  tired  of  gold  hunting,  to  stay  for 
good. 

When  I  went  to  the  camp  in  the 
afternoon  Sollitt  and  all  the  drivers 
wanted  to  go  back  to  the  town  to  look 
it  over  and  make  a  few  purchases.  I 
told  them  I  would  look  after  the  oxen 
till  evening,  when  the  herders  for  that 
night  would  come  and  relieve  me.  The 
afternoon  was  clear  and  warm,  though 
the  mountains  to  the  west  were  car- 
peted with  new-fallen  snow.  I  went  out 
in  my  shirt  sleeves,  without  a  thought 
of  needing  a  coat.  The  oxen  wandered 
off  quite  a  distance  from  camp  in  search 
of  the  best  grass,  and  I  leisurely  fol- 
62 


A   GOLD    HUNTER'S    EXPERIENCE 

lowed  them.  Late  in  the  afternoon, 
and  quite  suddenly,  the  wind  sprang  up 
and  came  directly  from  the  mountains, 
damp  and  cold.  Soon  I  was  enveloped 
in  a  dense  fog,  and  could  see  but  a  few 
yards  away.  I  lost  all  sense  of  the 
direction  of  the  camp  or  town,  and  the 
men  at  camp  did  not  know  where  or 
how  to  find  me.  When  night  came  it 
grew  so  dark  that  I  could  not  see  my 
hand  a  foot  from  my  eyes,  and  could 
only  keep  with  the  cattle  by  the  noise 
they  made  in  walking  and  grazing. 
Later  the  fog  turned  into  a  cold  rain, 
with  considerable  wind,  and  was  chill- 
ing to  the  bone,  so  I  was  booked  for  the 
night  in  a  cold  storm  without  supper  or 
coat.  To  keep  the  blood  in  circulation 
I  would  jump  and  run  around  in  a  circle 
for  half  an  hour  at  a  time.  Sometimes 
I  would  lean  up  against  one  of  the 
quiet  old  oxen  on  his  leeward  side,  and 
thus  get  some  warmth  from  his  body 
and  shelter  from  the  wind.  When  the 
63 


A   GOLD   HUNTER'S    EXPERIENCE 

oxen  had  finished  grazing  and  had  lain 
down  for  the  night,  I  tried  to  lie  down 
beside  one  of  them  to  get  out  of  the 
wind,  but  the  experiment  was  so  novel 
to  the  ox  that  he  would  get  up  at  once 
and  walk  off.  During  the  night  the 
oxen  strolled  off  more  than  a  mile  from 
camp.  When  morning  came  I  was  re- 
lieved by  the  men  and  was  ready  for 
breakfast,  and  especially  for  the  strong 
coffee.  In  times  of  exposure  and  extra 
effort,  coffee  was  the  greatest  solace  we 
found. 

When  on  a  visit  to  Denver,  twenty- 
three  years  afterwards,  I  tried  to  find 
out  just  where  I  spent  that  night,  An 
old  settler  of  the  place  decided  with  me 
that  it  was  on  the  elevated  ground  now 
known  as  Capitol  Hill.  During  the  day 
we  crossed  the  Platte  and  went  forward 
with  the  train  to  the  foot  of  the  moun- 
tains, and  camped  some  two  or  three 
miles  south  of  where  Clear  creek  leaves 
the  foot-hills.  Next  morning  Sollitt 
64 


A   GOLD    HUNTER'S    EXPERIENCE 

took  twelve  yoke  of  oxen  with  two 
drivers,  and  started  back  for  the  four 
wagons  and  two  men  that  had  been  left 
behind  on  the  plains.  Our  teamsters, 
who  had  volunteered  to  drive  oxen  to 
the  mountains  without  pay,  had  now 
fulfilled  their  agreement,  but  most  of 
them  were  glad  to  stay  with  us  for 
awhile  at  current  wages — about  a  dollar 
and  a  half  a  day.  The  prospect  was 
not  as  golden,  and  the  men  were  not  as 
anxious  to  get  to  mining  as  they  had 
been  when  a  thousand  miles  further 
east. 

Stubbs  had  spent  a  month  among 
the  mines  and  mills,  and  his  observa- 
tions made  him  rather  blue.  The  ac- 
counts he  gave  me  were  most  discour- 
aging. He  was  inclined  to  think  that 
the  best  thing  for  us  to  do  was  to  go 
into  camp  for  the  winter,  look  around, 
watch  the  developments,  and  in  the 
spring  decide  where  to  locate,  if  at  all, 
or  whether  to  sell  out,  give  up  the  en- 
65 


A   GOLD    HUNTER'S    EXPERIENCE 

terprise  and  go  home.  The  proposi- 
tion was  not  a  bad  one,  by  any  means; 
but  I  was  too  full  of  determination  to 
do  something,  to  think  of  sitting  down 
and  quietly  waiting  six  months,  after  all 
we  had  gone  through,  to  get  there.  I 
thought  we  would  all  be  better  satisfied 
if  we  were  to  pitch  in  and  make  a  vig- 
orous effort,  even  if  we  failed  in  the 
end,  rather  than  to  quit  at  this  early 
stage  of  the  hunt. 

The  usual  route  from  Denver  to  the 
gold  fields,  was  to  the  north  of  Clear 
creek,  by  Golden  City  to  Blackhawk, 
and  then  to  Mountain  City.  Stubbs 
selected  a  route  further  south,  because 
there  was  a  fine  camping  place,  with 
good  grass,  about  fifteen  miles,  or  half 
way  up  to  the  gold  fields,  from  the  foot 
of  the  mountains.  The  roads  were 
quite  passable  up  to  this  camp,  though 
the  hills  were  steep.  With  the  drivers 
and  oxen  that  were  left  after  Sollitt 
started  back,  the  wagons  were  gradu- 

66 


A   GOLD    HUNTER'S    EXPERIENCE 

ally  taken  up  to  this  mountain  camp, 
while  he  was  back  on  the  plains  and 
Stubbs  and  I  were  looking  over  the 
gold  region  to  decide  on  a  final  loca- 
tion. The  weather  was  pleasant  and 
rather  warm  during  the  day,  but  frosty 
at  night .  We  still  slept  in  the  open 
air,  and  our  blankets  were  often  frozen 
to  the  ground  in  the  morning. 

There  was  more  or  less  gulch  mining 
and  prospecting*  going  on  over  a  large 
section  of  the  mountains,  but  the  prin- 
cipal part  of  the  lode  mining,  and  most 
of  the  mills  that  had  been  located,  were 
confined  to  a  field  not  over  five  or  six 
miles  in  extent,  the  center  of  which 
was  Mountain  City,  now  Central  City. 
There  were  fifty  or  more  mills  already 
up  and  in  running  order.  They  varied 

*" Prospecting"  included  the  searching  for  gold  in  almost  any 
way  that  was  experimental.  Going  off  into  the  unexplored  moun- 
tains to  hunt  new  fields  of  gold,  whether  in  gulches  or  lodes  was 
prospecting.  Digging  a  hole  down  through  the  dirt  and  loose 
stones  in  the  bottom  of  a  gulch  to  see  if  gold  could  be  found  in 
the  sand  was  prospecting.  Sinking  a  shaft  into  the  top  dirt  of  a 
hillside  in  search  of  a  new  lode,  or  into  the  lode  when  discovered 
to  see  if  gold  could  be  found  there  was  prospecting.  And  manip- 
ulating a  specimen  of  quartz  by  pulverizing  and  the  use  of  quick- 
silver to  see  if  it  contained  gold  was  also  prospecting. 

67 


A   GOLD    HUNTER'S   EXPERIENCE 

in  capacity  from  three  to  twenty 
stamps.  Some  were  running  day  and 
night  crushing  quartz  that  was  appar- 
ently rich  in  gold;  some  were  running 
a  part  of  the  time,  experimenting  on  a 
variety  of  quartz  taken  out  of  different 
lodes  and  prospect  holes,  and  generally 
not  paying,  and  some  were  idle,  the 
owners  discouraged,  "bust,"  and  try- 
ing to  sell,  or  else  gone  home  for  the 
winter  to  get  more  money  to  work 
with. 

The  most  of  these  mills  were  located 
about  Mountain  City  and  Blackhawk 
and  in  Nevada  and  Russell's  gulches. 
The  rest  of  them  were  scattered  in 
other  small  gulches  or  mountain  valleys 
in  the  vicinity.  The  richest  mines  be- 
ing worked  were  the  Bobtail,  Gregory, 
and  others,  in  Gregory  gulch  between 
Mountain  City  and  Blackhawk.  The 
other  principal  gold  diggings  were  some 
seventy  miles  further  south,  near  the 
present  site  of  Leadville.  These  I  did 

68 


A   GOLD    HUNTER'S    EXPERIENCE 

not  then  visit.  Nearly  all  of  these 
mills  had  been  brought  out  and  located 
during  the  year  1 860.  Ours  was  about 
the  last  one  to  arrive  that  season.  It 
was  evident  that  the  business  was  not 
generally  paying.  The  reasons  given 
were,  that  the  mills  did  not  save  the 
gold  that  was  in  the  quartz,  and  that 
those  at  work  in  the  mines  were  nearly 
all  in  the  ' *  cap  rock "  which  was  sup- 
posed to  overlie  the  richer  deposits  be- 
low. The  theory  was  that  the  deeper 
they  went  the  richer  the  quartz.  There 
were  just  enough  rich  " pockets"  and 
streaks  being  discovered  and  good  runs 
made  by  the  few  paying  mines  and 
mills  to  keep  everybody  hopeful  and 
in  expectation  that  fortune  would  soon 
favor  them.  So  they  worked  away  as 
long  as  they  had  anything  to  eat,  or 
tools  and  powder  to  work  with. 

After  looking  over  the  fields  a  num- 
ber of  days,  carrying  our  blankets  and 
sleeping  in  empty  miners'  cabins,  Stubbs 
69 


A    GOLD    HUNTER'S    EXPERIENCE 

and  I  concluded  to  locate  at  the  head 
of  Leavenworth  gulch,  which  was  about 
a  mile  and  a  half  southwest  of  Mountain 
City,  between  Nevada  and  Russell's 
gulches.  The  side  hills  were  studded 
all  over  with  prospect  holes  and  mining 
shafts.  Several  lodes,  said  to  be  rich 
in  gold,  had  recently  been  discovered, 
and  a  nice  stream  of  water  ran  down 
the  gulch.  Only  three  mills  were  in 
operation  there,  and  a  number  of  miners 
who  were  developing  their  own  claims 
strongly  encouraged  us  to  come,  prom- 
ising us  plenty  of  quartz  to  crush. 
Several  parties  were  gulch  mining  there 
with  apparent  success,  and  during  the 
short  time  that  I  watched  one  man 
washing  out  the  dirt  and  gravel  from 
the  bottom  of  the  gulch  he  picked  up 
several  nice  nuggets  of  shining  gold, 
which  was  quite  stimulating  to  one's 
hopes.  I  afterwards  learned  that  these 
same  nuggets  had  been  washed  out 
several  times  before,  whenever  a  ' '  ten- 
70 


A    GOLD    HUNTER'S    EXPERIENCE 

derfoot "  would  come  along,  who  it  was 
thought  might  want  to  buy  a  rich  claim. 
As  soon  as  we  located  and  selected  a 
mill  site,  we  went  vigorously  to  work, 
and  all  was  preparation,  bustle  and 
activity.  Stubbs  was  a  good  mechanic 
and  took  charge  of  the  construction. 
Others  were  cutting  down  trees,  haul- 
ing and  squaring  logs,  and  framing  and 
placing  timbers  to  support  the  heavy 
mill  machinery.  As  soon  as  Sollitt 
returned  from  the  plains,  he,  with  a  few 
of  the  drivers,  went  to  work  to  get  the 
wagons,  machinery  and  provisions  from 
the  mountain  camp  up  to  our  location. 
In  many  places,  at  first  glance,  the 
roads  looked  impassable.  They  went 
up  hills  and  rocky  ledges  so  steep  that 
six  yoke  of  oxen  could  pull  only  a  part 
of  a  load ;  then  down  a  mountain  side  so 
precipitous  that  the  four  wheels  of  each 
wagon  would  have  to  be  dead-locked 
with  chains  to  keep  them  from  over- 
running  the  oxen;  then  they  would  go 
71 


A   GOLD    HUNTER'S    EXPERIENCE 

along  mountain  streams  full  of  rocks 
and  bowlders,  and  upsetting  a  wagon 
was  quite  a  common  occurrence.  I  saw 
one  of  our  provision  wagons  turn  over 
into  a  running  stream,  and,  among 
other  things,  a  barrel  of  sugar  start 
rolling  down  with  the  current. 

As  soon  as  everything  was  brought 
up  to  our  final  location,  I  sold  some  of 
the  wagons,  some  oxen  and  the  pony, 
thus  securing  cash  to  pay  help  and 
other  expenses.  I  traded  others  off  for 
sawed  lumber,  shingles,  etc.,  for  use  in 
building  the  mill-house  and  a  cabin. 
Grass  was  very  scarce  in  the  mining 
regions.  One  of  the  faithful,  well- 
whipped  oxen  was  killed  for  beef  (a  lit- 
tle like  eating  one  of  the  family).  In 
this  dry,  pure  air  the  meat  kept  in  per- 
fect condition  for  many  weeks  till  all 
eaten  up,  and  it  was  an  agreeable 
change  in  our  diet. 

When  we  had  finished  the  hauling  of 
timber  and  other  things,  we  sent  the 
72 


A   GOLD    HUNTER'S    EXPERIENCE 

oxen,  still  on  hand,  down  to  the  foot  of 
the  mountains  where  there  was  grass 
during  the  winter;  for  cattle  would  pick 
up  a  living  among  the  foot-hills,  and 
come  out  in  good  condition  in  the 
spring.  The  distance  was  some  twenty- 
five  or  thirty  miles.  Early  one  bright 
November  morning  I  started  down 
there  on  foot  to  make  arrangements 
with  a  ranchman  to  look  after  them. 
The  air  was  so  bracing  and  stimulating 
to  the  energies  that  I  felt  as  if  a  fifty- 
mile  walk  would  be  mere  recreation. 
Being  mostly  down  hill,  I  arrived  at  the 
ranch  before  noon,  did  my  business,  got 
a  dinner  of  beef,  bread  and  coffee,  and 
felt  so  fine  that  soon  after  two  o'clock 
I  concluded  to  start  for  home,  thinking 
that  in  any  event  I  would  reach  one  of 
the  two  or  three  cabins  that  would  be 
found  on  the  latter  part  of  the  road. 
Walking  up  the  mountains  was  slower 
business  than  going  down,  and  long 
before  I  reached  the  expected  cabins  it 

73 


A   GOLD    HUNTER'S    EXPERIENCE 

became  dark  and  I  was  completely 
tired  out.  I  found  a  small  pile  of  dried 
grass  by  the  roadside  which  had  been 
collected  by  some  teamster  for  his 
horses.  I  covered  myself  up  with  this 
as  well  as  I  could,  and  being  very  tired, 
was  soon  asleep,  without  supper  or 
blanket.  On  awakening  in  the  morning, 
I  found  myself  covered  with  several 
inches  of  snow,  and  felt  tired,  hungry 
and  depressed.  I  plodded  along  toward 
home  for  a  few  hours,  and  came  to  a 
cabin  occupied  by  a  lone  prospector, 
who  got  me  up  a  meal  of  coffee,  tough 
beef  and  wheat  flour  bread,  baked  in  a 
frying  pan  with  a  tin  cover  over  it. 
Soon  after  finishing  the  meal  I  felt  sick 
and  very  weak,  and  was  unable  to  pro- 
ceed on  my  journey  till  late  in  the 
afternoon,  when  I  went  ahead  and 
reached  home  long  after  dark. 

Leavenworth  gulch  was  crossed  by 
dozens  of  lodes  of  gold-bearing  quartz, 
generally  running  in  a  north-easterly 

74 


A    GOLD    HUNTER'S    EXPERIENCE 

and  south-westerly  direction.  In  this 
district  the  discoverer  of  a  lode  was  en- 
titled to  claim  and  stake  off  200  feet  in 
length,  then  others  could  in  succession 
take  100  feet  each,  in  either  direction 
from  the  discovery  hole,  and  these 
claims,  in  order  to  be  valid,  were  all  re- 
corded in  the  record  office  of  the  district. 
Owners  of  these  various  claims,  to  pros- 
pect and  develop  them,  had  dug  the  side 
hills  of  the  gulch  all  over  with  hundreds 
of  holes  from  ten  to  thirty  feet  deep, 
partly  through  top  dirt  and  partly 
through  rock.  A  few  would  find  ore 
rich  enough  to  excite  and  encourage  all 
the  rest.  More  would  find  rich  indica- 
tions that  would  stimulate  them  to  work 
on  as  long  as  they  had  provisions  or 
credit  to  enable  them  to  go  ahead,  hop- 
ing each  day  for  the  golden  "strike." 
A  large  majority  of  these  prospect  holes 
came  to  nothing.  Many  of  the  miners 
had  claims  on  several  different  lodes, 
and  although  they  might  have  faith  in 
75 


A    GOLD    HUNTER'S    EXPERIENCE 

their  richness,  they  wanted  to  sell  part 
of  them  to  get  means  to  work  the  rest. 
We  had  plenty  of  chances  to  buy  for  a 
few  hundred  dollars  in  money  or  trade 
mines  partly  opened,  showing  narrow 
streaks  of  good  ore,  which,  according 
to  the  prevailing  belief,  would  widen 
out  and  pay  richly  as  soon  as  they  were 
down  through  the  ' '  cap  rock." 

While  work  was  progressing  on  the  mill 
I  spent  considerable  time  in  looking  over 
these  mines,  and  I  went  down  numer- 
ous shafts  by  means  of  a  rope  and 
windlass,  turned  by  a  lone  stranger, 
who  I  sometimes  feared  might  let  me 
drop.  I  listened  to  glowing  descriptions 
by  the  owners,  examined  the  crevises 
and  pay  streaks,  and  took  specimens 
home  to  prospect.  This  was  done  by 
pounding  a  piece  of  ore  to  powder  in  a 
little  hand  mortar,  then  putting  in  a 
drop  of  quicksilver  to  pick  up  the  gold, 
and  then  evaporating  that  fluid  by  hold- 
ing it  in  an  iron  ladle  over  a  fire.  The 
76 


A    GOLD    HUNTER'S    EXPERIENCE 

richness  of  the  color  left  in  the  cup 
would  indicate  the  amount  of  gold  in 
the  quartz.*  I  could  soon  talk  glibly  of 
" blossom  rock,"  " pay  streaks,"  "cap 
rock,"  "wall  rock,"  "rich  color,"  and 
use  the  common  terms  of  miners.  I 
bought  two  or  three  mines,  traded  oxen 
and  wagons  for  two  or  three  more,  and 
furnished  "grubstakes"  to  one  or  two 
miners — that  is,  gave  them  provisions 
to  live  on  while  they  worked  their  claims 
on  terms  of  sharing  the  results. 

Quartz  mills  were  nearly  all  run  by 
steam  and  the  fuel  was  pine  wood  cut 
from  the  mountain  sides,  every  one 
taking  from  these  public  domains  what- 
ever he  wanted.  The  principal  features 
of  our  mill  were  twelve  large  pestles  or 
stamps,  weighing  500  pounds  each, 
which  were  raised  up  about  eighteen 


*  In  testing  quartz  by  specimens,  "greenhorns"  were  some- 

es  deceived  by  "loaded"  quicksilver,  that  is  by  that  which 

had  some  gold  in  it  and  would  leave  a  "  color  "  whenever  evapor- 
ated.   I  knew  one  miner  who  worked  away  in  his  mine,  taking 


times 


out  quartz  all  winter,  and  was  in  good  spirits  as  he  tested  a  speci 
men  of  his  ore  every  day  or  two  and  always  found  a  rich  color. 
When  crushed  in  the  spring  his  quartz  did  not  "pay."  The  bot- 
tle of  quicksilver  he  had  used  all  winter  was  found  to  be  "loaded." 

77 


A   GOLD    HUNTER'S    EXPERIENCE 

inches  by  machinery  and  dropped  into 
huge  iron  mortars  onto  the  small  pieces 
of  rock  which  were  constantly  fed  into 
them  by  a  man  with  a  shovel.  A  small 
stream  of  water  was  let  into  the  mortars, 
and  as  the  rock  was  crushed  into  fine 
sand  and  powder  it  went  out  with  the 
water,  through  fine  screens  in  front,  and 
passed  over  long  tables,  a  little  inclined, 
and  then  over  woolen  blankets.  The 
tables  were  covered  with  large  sheets  of 
brightly  polished  copper.  On  these  pol- 
ished plates,  quicksilver  was  sprinkled 
and  it  was  held  to  the  copper  by  the 
affinity  of  the  two  metals  for  each  other. 
As  the  water  and  powdered  rock  passed 
over  the  tables,  the  quicksilver,  by  rea- 
son of  its  chemical  attraction  for  gold, 
would  gather  up  the  fine  particles  of 
that  metal  and,  as  the  two  combined, 
would  gradually  harden  and  form  an 
amalgam,  somewhat  resembling  lead. 
Coarser  grains  of  gold  would  lodge  in 
the  blankets,  owing  to  their  weight, 
78 


A   GOLD   HUNTER'S    EXPERIENCE 

while  the  small  particles  of  rock  would 
pass  over  with  the  water.  The  amal- 
gam was  put  into  a  retort  and  heated 
over  a  fire,  when  the  quicksilver  would 
pass  off  in  vapor  through  a  tube  into  a 
vessel  of  water,  and  then  condense,  to 
be  again  used,  while  the  gold  would  be 
left  in  the  retort,  to  be  broken  up  into 
small  pieces  and  used  as  current  money. 
In  order  to  save  as  much  of  the  gold  as 
possible,  these  copper  plates  required 
close  watching,  constant  care  and  much 
rubbing  to  remove  the  verdigris  that 
would  form. 

About  the  first  of  November  our  mill 
was  completed,  and  we  expected  to 
operate  it  a  good  part  of  the  winter 
with  the  quartz  of  other  miners,  to- 
gether with  that  which  we  would  take 
out  ourselves  from  our  own  mines.  A 
large  well,  or  underground  cistern,  was 
dug  under  the  mill  house,  which  was  fed 
by  copious  springs,  and  promised  to  fur- 
nish an  abundant  supply  of  water.  To 

79 


A   GOLD    HUNTER'S   EXPERIENCE 

furnish  water  for  the  numerous  mills 
about  Mountain  City  and  in  Nevada 
gulch  a  large  ditch  had  been  dug,  which 
started  up  in  the  mountains  near  the 
Snowy  range,  and  wound  like  a  huge 
serpent  around  promontories  and  the 
sides  and  heads  of  numerous  gulches, 
with  a  slight  incline,  for  some  fifteen 
miles.  It  passed  around  the  hills  which 
bordered  Leavenworth  gulch,  a  few 
hundred  yards  above  our  mill  site. 
About  the  time  the  mill  was  completed 
the  water  was  turned  off  from  this  ditch 
on  account  of  freezing  weather  and  the 
near  approach  of  winter.  Very  soon 
after,  the  beautiful  springs  which  sup- 
plied our  tank  and  the  gulch  with  water, 
all  dried  up.  They  had  been  fed  by 
seepage  from  the  big  ditch.  With  the 
disappearance  of  the  water  vanished 
all  prospect  of  running  the  mill  before 
spring,  when  the  melting  snow  would 
furnish  a  supply.  It  seemed  like  a  bad 
case  of  * '  hope  deferred. "  But  the 
80 


A   GOLD    HUNTER'S    EXPERIENCE 

bracing  air  and  climate,  outdoor  life, 
constant  exercise,  coarse  food  and  pure 
water  were  too  invigorating  and  stimu- 
lating to  the  feelings  and  hopes  to  allow 
one  to  feel  much  depressed  or  discour- 
aged. We  looked  forward  to  the  next 
summer  for  the  golden  harvest. 

Stubbs  built  us  a  one-and-a-half- 
story-cottage  out  of  sawed  lumber, 
boards  and  shingles,  with  one  room  be- 
low for  living,  eating,  cooking  and  stor- 
ing provisions  in,  and  one  above  for  a 
dormitory.  A  corner  of  the  latter  was 
partitioned  off  into  a  small  room  for 
him  and  me,  with  a  bunk  for  each, 
under  which  we  stored  our  twelve  kegs 
of  powder,  as  being  the  safest  place  we 
had  for  it.  We  slept  on  beds  of  hay 
with  our  blankets  over  us,  and  in  very 
cold  weather  piled  on  our  entire  stock 
of  coats  and  some  empty  provision 
sacks.  In  the  room  below  was  a  good 
cook  stove,  and  there  was  wood  in  abun- 
dance, so  we  kept  comfortable,  though 

81 


A   GOLD    HUNTER'S    EXPERIENCE 

the  house  was  neither  plastered  nor 
sheeted,  and  considerable  daylight  came 
in  through  cracks  in  the  siding.  We 
had  a  table  and  benches  made  of 
boards,  and  Stubbs  made  me  an  arm- 
chair and  a  desk  for  my  account  books, 
papers  and  stationery.  What  a  luxury, 
after  four  months  camping  out,  to  be 
able  to  sit  down  in  a  chair,  eat  from  a 
table,  sleep  on  a  bed,  write  at  a  desk, 
read  by  a  candle  at  night  and  have 
regular,  well-cooked  meals. 

To  a  lover  of  the  picturesque  in 
scenery  our  location  was  ideal.  Imme- 
diately around  us  was  a  semicircle  of 
high,  steep,  pine-covered  hills  spotted 
with  prospect  holes.  To  the  east, 
through  an  opening  in  the  intervening 
mountain  ranges,  the  plains  were  in 
full  view  over  a  hundred  miles  away. 
Sometimes  for  days,  they  were  covered 
with  shifting  clouds  which  seemed  far 
below  us.  Then  an  east  wind  would 
drive  the  clouds  and  mist  slowly  up 
82 


A    GOLD    HUNTER'S  EXPERIENCE 

into  the  mountains,  swallowing  up  first 
one  range  and  then  another,  till  only  a 
few  peaks  would  stand  out,  above  an 
ocean  of  fog,  and  finally  we  would 
be  enveloped  ourselves.  Ascending  a 
hill  a  few  hundred  yards  above  our 
house  and  looking  westward  over  a  great 
depression  or  mountain  valley,  one  had 
in  full  view  the  Snowy  range  over 
twenty  miles  away,  with  its  crests  and 
peaks  covered  with  perpetual  snow, 
and  Mount  Gray  still  further  in  the 
distance.  In  the  fall  and  winter  almost 
every  day  local  snowstorms  and  bliz- 
zards were  seen  playing  over  this  great 
basin  and  on  the  sides  of  the  distant 
range.  Our  location  was  some  nine  or 
ten  thousand  feet  above  the  sea.  The 
lightness  of  the  air  gave  some  incon- 
venience and  many  surprises  to  new 
comers.  They  would  get  out  of  breath 
in  a  few  minutes  in  walking  up  a  hill. 
I  would  wake  up  several  times  in  a 
night  with  a  feeling  of  suffocation,  draw 
83 


A   GOLD    HUNTER'S    EXPERIENCE 

deep  breaths  for  a  few  minutes  and 
thus  get  relief  before  going  to  sleep 
again.  It  took  ten  minutes  to  boil 
eggs,  two  to  three  hours  for  potatoes, 
and  beans  for  dinner  were  usually  put 
on  the  fire  at  supper  time  the  day 
before. 

Coin  and  bank  bills  were  seldom 
seen.  The  universal  currency  was 
retorted  gold,  broken  up  into  small 
pieces,  which  went  at  $16  an  ounce. 
Every  man  had  his  buckskin  purse  tied 
with  a  string,  to  carry  his  '  *  dust "  in, 
and  every  store  and  house  had  its  small 
scales,  with  weights  from  a  few  grains 
to  an  ounce,  to  weigh  out  the  price 
when  any  article  from  a  newspaper  to  a 
wagon  was  purchased.  No  laws  were 
in  force  or  observed  except  miners'  laws 
made  by  the  people  of  the  different  dis- 
tricts. When  a  few  dozen  miners,  more 
or  less,  settled  or  went  to  work  in  a  new 
place  they  soon  organized,  adopted 
a  set  of  laws  and  elected  officers,  usu- 
84 


A   GOLD    HUNTER'S    EXPERIENCE 

ally  a  president,  secretary,  recorder  of 
claims,  justice  of  the  peace  and  a 
sheriff  or  constable.  Appeals  from  the 
justice,  disputes  of  importance  over 
mining  claims,  and  criminal  cases  were 
tried  at  a  meeting  of  the  miners  of  the 
district.  We  were  in  the  district  of 
Russell's  gulch.  Sometimes  we  had 
a  meeting  of  the  residents  of  our  own 
gulch.  One  chap  there  stole  a  suit 
of  clothes.  The  residents  were  noti- 
fied to  meet  at  once,  and  the  same 
day  the  culprit  was  tried  and  found 
guilty,  and  a  committee,  of  which  I 
was  one,  was  appointed  to  notify  him 
to  leave  our  locality  within  two  hours 
and  not  to  return,  on  penalty  of  death. 
He  went  on  time.  Had  he  been  stub- 
born and  refused  to  go,  I  don't  know 
what  course  the  committee  would  have 
taken.  This  member  of  it  would  have 
been  embarrassed.  An  adjoining  dis- 
trict was  made  up  mostly  of  Georgians. 
They  had  their  own  tastes  and  preju- 

•      85 


A  GOLD    HUNTER'S    EXPERIENCE 

dices.  Soon  after  we  came  to  the 
mountains,  at  their  miners'  meeting  a 
man  was  convicted  for  some  offence 
and  sentenced  to  receive  thirty  lashes 
from  a  heavy  horsewhip.  The  day  for 
the  execution  of  the  sentence  was  re- 
garded as  a  kind  of  holiday  and  the 
miners  collected  from  all  the  country 
around.  All  our  men,  including  Sollitt, 
went  to  the  whipping.  Stubbs  and  I 
stayed  at  home.  We  had  no  relish  for 
that  sort  of  amusement.  A  thief  was 
more  sure  of  punishment  than  a  mur- 
derer. There  was  so  much  property 
lying  around  in  cabins  unguarded,  while 
the  owners  were  off  mining  or  pros- 
pecting, that  stealing  could  not  be  toler- 
ated, while  the  loss  of  a  man  now  and 
then  by  killing  or  otherwise  did  not 
count  for  much. 

When  it  was  found  that  the  mill 
could  not  be  run  during  the  winter,  we 
discharged  all  the  men  except  the  cook, 
and  two  others,  who  were  kept  to  help 

86 


A   GOLD    HUNTER'S    EXPERIENCE 

do  a  little  mining  on  two  of  the  claims 
that  we  had  secured  by  trade  and  pur- 
chase. A  shaft  about  three  feet  by  six 
was  sunk  in  each,  which  followed  the 
vein  of  mineral  quartz  down  to  a  depth 
of  thirty  to  fifty  feet.  In  one,  the  vein 
was  quite  rich  in  places,  but  only  two 
or  three  inches  wide,  and  it  would  not 
pay  to  work  it;  but  the  hope  that  kept 
us,  like  hundreds  of  others  at  work, 
was,  that  the  vein  would  widen  out 
when  we  got  a  little  deeper  and  grow 
richer  as  it  went  down.  This  hope  was 
never  realized.  The  other  shaft  was 
on  a  lode  called  the  Keystone,  and 
developed  a  wide  vein  of  black  pyrites 
of  iron  that  much  resembled  that  which 
was  being  taken  out  of  the  best  paying 
mines,  and  most  of  the  miners  that 
examined  it  declared  that  we  had  a 
bonanza.  Of  course  we  were  in  good 
spirits,  but  we  did  not  care  to  run  in 
debt  in  order  to  take  out  more  mineral 
than  we  got  in  sinking  the  shaft,  of 
87 


A   GOLD    HUNTER'S    EXPERIENCE 

which  there  were  several  cords.  I 
worked  a  part  of  each  day  in  the  shafts, 
with  the  others,  to  learn  the  details, 
drilling,  blasting  and  picking  out  the 
' '  pay  streak ."  Then  I  spent  a  good  deal 
of  time  looking  around  among  other 
mines,  and  the  mills  that  were  at  work, 
to  learn  what  I  could.  Quite  a  number 
of  other  miners  were  at  work  in  the  gulch 
sinking  shafts  on  their  best  claims  and 
taking  out  ore  to  be  crushed  in  the  spring. 
To  some  of  these  we  furnished  provisions 
to  enable  them  to  keep  at  work.  Most 
of  the  roving,  restless,  fickle  people  had 
gone  home  in  the  fall  and  those  who 
stayed  were  men  of  grit  and  determina- 
tion. Some  of  them  were  well  educated 
and  intelligent.  Every  little  while 
somebody  would  strike  a  small  pocket, 
or  a  streak  of  very  rich  ore,  which  would 
help  to  make  everybody  else  feel  hope- 
ful. And  so  the  winter  wore  away. 

There  were  four  families  in  the  gulch 
this  winter,  including  that  number   of 

88 


A    GOLD    HUNTER'S    EXPERIENCE 

women,  several  children  and  three 
young  ladies.  The  young  men  buzzed 
around  the  homes  of  the  latter  like 
bees  about  a  honey  dish.  These 
families  united  and  had  a  party  on 
Christmas  Eve.  Three  cottages  were 
used  for  the  occasion,  one  to  receive 
the  guests  in,  ours  for  the  supper  room, 
and  another  with  a  floor  for  dancing. 
We  regarded  this  as  the  " coming  out" 
of  the  youngest  of  the  young  ladies. 
Several  ladies  from  Russell's  and  other 
gulches  came  to  the  party.  Among 
those  living  here  were  quite  a  number 
who  brought  a  few  books  with  them. 
No  one  person  had  many,  but  all  to- 
gether they  made  quite  a  library  and 
were  freely  lent.  I  remember  borrow- 
ing and  reading  by  the  light  of  a  candle, 
in  these  long  winter  evenings,  some 
works  on  mines,  Carlyle's  works,  a  few 
histories  and  several  novels.  The 
almost  universal  amusement  with  the 
miners  and  others  was  card  playing, 
89 


A   GOLD    HUNTER'S    EXPERIENCE 

confined  to  euchre  and  poker.  Every 
miner  had  a  pack  of  cards  in  his  cabin 
if  not  in  his  pocket,  and  generally  so 
soiled  and  greasy  that  one  could  not 
tell  the  jack  from  the  king.  Gambling 
was  common  and  open  in  Denver  and 
Mountain  City,  and  not  unusual  else- 
where. Playing  for  gain  was  never 
practiced  in  our  cottage.  When  poker 
was  played,  beans  were  put  in  the 
jackpot  instead  of  money. 

Near  the  junction  of  Russell's  and 
Leavenworth  gulches,  and  about  a  third 
of  a  mile  from  our  location,  was  a  mill 
owned  and  run  by  George  M.  Pullman, 
then  a  comparatively  obscure  man,  but 
later  known  to  the  world  as  the  great 
sleeping  car  magnate.  He  also  had  an 
interest  in  a  general  supply  store  near 
Mountain  City.  He  lived  much  of  this 
winter  in  a  cabin  near  the  mill,  and 
rode  back  and  forth  to  town  almost 
daily  on  an  old  mule.  He  wore  com- 
mon clothes  like  the  rest  of  us,  and  the 
90 


A    GOLD    HUNTER'S    EXPERIENCE 

only  sign  of  greater  importance  that  he 
exhibited  was,  that  while  I  walked  to 
town,  he  rode  the  mule.  He  left  the 
mountains  the  next  summer  for  Chi- 
cago, and  entered  upon  his  sleeping-car 
enterprise,  which  led  to  fame  and  for- 
tune. 

Another  young  miner  that  was  much 
in  evidence  about  Mountain  City  this 
winter  was  Jerome  B.  Chaffee,  who 
afterwards  made  a  fortune  in  mines, 
took  an  active  interest  in  local  politics 
and  became  a  United  States  Senator. 

In  Mountain  City  there  was  an  enter- 
prising chap  who  started  a  pie  bakery 
and  did  an  extensive  business.  Miners 
from  all  the  country  around,  when  they 
came  to  town,  crowded  his  shop  for  a 
delightful  change  from  the  usual  cabin 
fare.  I  went  to  town  every  few  days 
for  letters  and  papers,  or  to  visit  the 
mills,  and  always  indulged  in  this  one 
dissipation.  I  went  to  his  bakery  and 
feasted  on  pie.  He  had  peach,  apple, 
91 


A   GOLD    HUNTER'S    EXPERIENCE 

mince,  berry,  pumpkin  and  custard  pie, 
and  never  since  I  was  a  boy  in  the  land 
of  pie  did  the  article  taste  so  good. 

Within  a  hundred  yards  of  our  mill 
lived  and  worked  the  gulch  blacksmith, 
named  Switzer.  He  sharpened  our 
drills  and  did  our  smith  work  generally. 
He  had  a  bitter  feud  with  a  gambler  in 
Mountain  City,  which  resulted  in  each 
vowing  to  shoot  the  other  on  sight. 
They  carried  loaded  revolvers  for  the 
occasion  for  nearly  a  month,  and  then 
happened  to  meet  in  broad  daylight  in 
the  principal  street  of  the  town.  The 
other  fellow  was  the  quicker — Switzer 
fell  dead  and  we  had  to  find  another 
blacksmith.  No  notice  was  taken  of 
the  affair  by  the  authorities. 

Sollitt  became  ill  with  what  the  doc- 
tors pronounced  scurvy,  and  went  East 
before  April.  Stubbs  and  he  disliked 
each  other  from  the  first,  and  whatever 
one  suggested  the  other  opposed .  This 
made  it  easier  for  me  to  decide  some 
92 


A   GOLD    HUNTER'S    EXPERIENCE 

questions,  as  I  never  had  both  of  them 
against  me.  The  people  here  were 
generally  very  healthy.  I  increased 
much  in  strength  and  vigor,  and 
weighed  175  pounds  for  the  first  and 
only  time  in  my  life.  November  was 
windy,  stormy  and  cold,  but  in  Decem- 
ber the  weather  was  settled  and  pleas- 
ant. During  the  winter  the  mercury 
a  few  times  went  below  zero;  otherwise 
the  climate  was  delightful.  The  warm 
sunshine  of  the  last  half  of  April  melted 
the  snow,  thawed  the  ground  and 
brought  a  supply  of  water  for  the  mill, 
even  before  the  big  ditch  began  to  run. 
We  soon  began  crushing  the  piles  of 
quartz  that  had  been  taken  out  during 
the  winter  by  various  miners,  and  tried 
our  own  rich-looking  black  stuff  from 
the  Keystone.  The  mill  was  run  day 
and  night.  I  took  charge  from  mid- 
night till  noon  and  Stubbs  from  noon 
till  midnight.  None  of  the  rock  was 
found  rich  enough  to  pay  for  mining 

93 


A   GOLD    HUNTER'S    EXPERIENCE 

and  milling.  That  tried  in  one  or  two 
other  mills  was  no  better.  General  dis- 
couragement followed,  and  everybody 
stopped  mining  in  our  gulch.  Some 
went  to  work  for  wages  in  other  mines, 
to  get  a  fresh  supply  of  provisions,  etc. 
Some  went  off  prospecting  and  gulch 
mining  in  the  newer  gold  regions.  Our 
neighbor,  Farren,  moved  his  mill 
seventy  miles  away,  to  California  gulch, 
near  where  Leadville  now  is.  A  mill 
partly  erected  near  our  mill  site,  and 
owned  by  a  Mr.  Bradley  and  a  Mr.  H. 
H.  Honore,  the  father  of  Mrs.  Potter 
Palmer,  was  moved  away  to  other 
parts,  and  our  mill  was  left  alone.  The 
gulch  was  soon  almost  deserted.  Mines 
and  mills  seemed  to  be  of  no  use  or 
value.  Our  whole  enterprise  had  ap- 
parently collapsed,  and  the  golden  halo, 
that  for  ten  months  had  surrounded  it, 
had  vanished.  Hope  departed,  and  for 
a  few  days  was  replaced  by  feelings  of 
disappointment  and  depression  of  spirits 

94 


A   GOLD    HUNTER'S    EXPERIENCE 

not  often  experienced  by  me.  Stubbs 
abandoned  the  business  and  decided  to 
go  home  and  leave  me  to  hold  the  fort 
and  look  after  the  wreck,  as  he  called 
it,  to  see  what  could  be  saved. 

He  built  a  boat,  had  it  hauled  down 
to  the  Platte  at  Denver,  piled  in  his 
provisions  and  effects,  launched  it  in 
the  river  and  started  down  stream, 
hoping  to  reach  Omaha  in  that  way. 
All  went  well  for  about  a  hundred 
miles,  when  the  water  grew  so  shallow 
that  he  was  stranded  amid  the  small 
islands  and  shifting  sands.  He  got 
ashore,  abandoned  his  boat  and  took 
passage  in  an  eastward-bound  mule 
wagon.  He  and  the  principal,  Mr.  Sol- 
litt,  afterwards  sold  out  their  interest  in 
the  enterprise  to  Mr.  Ayres  for  a  small 
consideration. 

In  a  few  days  I  got  over  the 
4 'dumps,"  and  spent  a  week  or  two 
visiting  the  newer  gold  fields  up  the 
south  branch  of  Clear  creek,  about 

95 


A   GOLD    HUNTER'S    EXPERIENCE 

Idaho,  Georgetown,  Empire  and  Fall 
river,  where  new  lodes  were  being  dis- 
covered almost  daily.  Not  much  gold 
was  being  taken  out,  but  everybody 
was  full  of  hope  and  expectation  and 
busy  prospecting  and  staking  off  claims 
on  newly  discovered  lodes.  I  had  some 
staked  off  for  myself  by  some  men  who 
had  worked  for  us. 

Geo.  M.  Pullman  wanted  to  experi- 
ment on  a  load  of  the  ore  from  our 
noted  Keystone  lode,  as  it  looked  so 
rich.  When  it  was  going  through  the 
mill,  the  amalgam  piled  up  so  fast  on 
the  copper  plates  and  appeared  so  rich 
that  he  at  once  came  up  to  see  me  and 
proposed  that  we  buy,  on  joint  account, 
the  adjoining  claim  on  the  same  lode, 
as  I  knew  the  owner  and  had  formerly 
had  an  option  on  its  purchase.  A  few 
hours  later,  when  they  had  cleaned  up 
and  retorted  the  amalgam  he  came 
galloping  up  again  on  the  old  mule  to 
stop  proceedings,  as  they  got  very 
96 


A   GOLD    HUNTER'S    EXPERIENCE 

little  of  value  from  the  amalgam,  and 
that  mostly  silver.  Thus  that  gleam 
of  hope  quickly  vanished  also. 

Late  in  June,  with  Tobias  as  a  com- 
panion, I  took  a  trip  of  observation 
over  the  range  into  the  wild  regions  of 
Middle  park.  We  carried  our  blankets, 
flour,  bacon,  coffee  and  sugar  to  last  a 
week,  also  tin  cups,  plates  and  spoons, 
a  frying  pan,  gun,  pistol,  hatchet  and 
belt  knives.  Walking  the  first  day 
slowly  up  the  slopes  through  the  pine 
forests,  around  the  head  of  Nevada 
gulch,  and  along  the  high  ridge  south 
of  Boulder  valley,  we  camped  for  the 
night  just  below  the  timber  line  so  as  to 
have  fuel  for  a  fire.  A  few  tracks  of 
Mountain  lion  were  seen  in  the  after- 
noon. The  trees  grew  smaller  and 
smaller  till  the  last  seen  were  old  ones 
covered  with  moss  and  only  a  few  feet 
high.  After  leaving  the  line  of  timber 
growth,  the  ground  for  some  miles  was 
thickly  carpeted  with  mountain  moss, 

97 


A   GOLD    HUNTER'S    EXPERIENCE 

then  in  full  bloom  in  rich  colors  of  red, 
white,  blue  and  yellow.  In  the  after- 
noon we  reached  the  top  of  a  high  peak 
on  the  crest  of  the  range  where  all  was 
desolation,  and  nothing  grew.  The 
peak  was  a  vast  pile  of  broken  rocks 
and  stones  partly  covered  with  snow. 
To  the  North  Long's  Peak  stood  out 
above  everything  else.  To  the  East 
one  had  a  grand  view  over  a  wilderness 
of  mountain  ranges  and  peaks  to  the 
great  plains  in  the  dim  distance.  To 
the  South,  beyond  a  range  of  other 
snow-capped  peaks,  towered  Mount 
Gray.  Within  a  mile  of  us  in  full  view, 
were  seven  mountain  lakes  from  ten  to 
a  hundred  acres  in  size,  and  one  of 
them,  which  was  screened  from  the 
sun's  rays  by  a  steep  rocky  ledge,  was 
still  solid  ice  from  the  freeze  of  the  last 
winter.  To  the  west  was  visible  a 
circle  of  mountain  tops,  thirty  or  forty 
miles  away,  and  surrounding  the  great 
basin,  a  mile  below  us  in  elevation, 
98 


A   GOLD    HUNTER'S    EXPERIENCE 

which  constituted  Middle  park.  The 
afternoon  was  bright  and  pleasant, 
and  we  decided  to  spend  the  night 
on  the  peak,  to  see  the  sunrise  and 
enjoy  the  view  in  the  clear  morning 
air.  We  made  a  bed  with  flat  stones 
and  rolled  up  in  our  blankets  for  sleep. 
Then  the  wind  blew  over  us  and  up 
through  the  crevices  in  the  rocks  under 
us  and  soon  our  teeth  were  chattering 
and  we  were  chilled  through  and 
through.  To  keep  from  freezing  we 
climbed  in  the  darkness,  over  the  rocks 
and  down  the  mountain  side  to  a  shel- 
tered nook,  then  rolled  up  and  went  to 
sleep.  During  the  night  I  was  awak- 
ened by  some  animal  sniffing  about  my 
head  and  pulling  at  my  blanket.  A  yell, 
a  start  and  two  or  three  stones  thrown 
after  him,  sent  him  off  among  the  rocks, 
and  I  never  knew  what  it  was.  At  day- 
light we  again  climbed  up  the  peak, 
saw  the  sun  rise,  made  a  breakfast  of 
bread  and  sugar  as  we  had  no  fuel 

99 


A   GOLD    HUNTER'S    EXPERIENCE 

to  make  a  fire,  and  then  started  down 
the  mountain.  The  little  streams  and 
pools  coming  from  the  melting  snows 
the  day  before  were  now  all  frozen  up. 
By  ten  o'clock  we  were  down  where  the 
vegetation  was  luxuriant,  the  flowers 
in  bloom  and  the  butterflies  flitting 
about  them.  Along  the  stream  that 
we  descended  to  the  westward,  was  a 
series  of  beaver  dams  continuing  for 
several  miles,  covering  two  or  three 
acres  each,  with  breasts  four  or  five  feet 
high  formed  of  logs  and  brush.  Out  in 
the  middle  of  the  dams  were  the 
beavers'  houses,  partly  under  water  and 
rising  a  few  feet  above.  Many  of  the 
logs,  cut  off  by  the  beavers  to  form  the 
dams,  and  the  stumps  on  the  shore 
where  they  had  gnawed  down  the  trees, 
were  twelve  to  fifteen  inches  through. 
Further  on  we  saw  bear  tracks  in  the 
mud  along  the  stream.  When  we 
camped  at  night  we  made  a  bed  of 
pine  boughs,  and  over  it  a  small  shelter 

100 


A   GOLD    HUNTER'S    EXPERIENCE 

with  branches  of  trees  cut  with  the 
hatchet.  We  built  a  fire  on  the  side 
hill  above  our  sleeping  place  beside  a 
fallen  tree.  In  the  night  it  burned 
through  and  a  log  rolled  down  the  hill 
over  us,  and  we  awoke  with  a  sudden 
start.  I  thought  of  bears  and  instantly 
seized  my  hatchet  and  knife  for  defense, 
before  realizing  the  true  situation.  Old 
skulls  and  bones  of  buffalo  were  plenti- 
ful, showing  that  the  animals  had  once 
occupied  these  fertile  valleys.  On 
starting  back  we  followed  an  old  animal 
trail,  the  general  course  of  which  was 
headed  toward  the  range,  though  it 
wound  around  the  mountain  sides  and 
gulches  in  all  directions.  We  felt  sure 
it  would  lead  over  the  Snowy  range  at 
the  easiest  passage.  After  following  it 
two  days,  often  climbing  over  and  creep- 
ing under  fallen  trees,  it  brought  us 
through  a  low  pass  to  the  head  waters 
of  South  Clear  creek,  whence  we  had 


IOI 


A   GOLD    HUNTER'S    EXPERIENCE 

an  easy  trail  down  hill  most  of  the  way 
home. 

Though  far  away  from  the  seat  of 
the  civil  war  we  did  not  escape  its 
excitements.  The  Southerners  were 
numerous  in  the  mountains,  and  of 
course  all  sided  with  the  South.  They 
and  the  Northerners  were  very  suspi- 
cious of  each  other,  and  each  party 
bought  up  all  the  guns  they  could  get 
in  the  mountains.  During  the  summer 
of  1 86 1  much  fear  was  felt  that  a  rebel 
force  might  march  up  the  Arkansas 
and,  with  the  help  of  their  friends  here, 
capture  the  whole  settlement.  But 
when  the  Southern  troops  were  defeated 
and  driven  out  of  New  Mexico  by  the 
Union  forces  in  the  following  spring,  all 
danger  was  over  and  ' '  Pike's  Peak " 
was  loyal.  The  Southerners  gradually 
left  to  join  the  rebel  army.  We  got 
news  from  the  East  in  six  days,  by  tele- 
graph to  Omaha,  the  overland  mail 
coach  to  Julesburg,  near  the  forks  of 

IO2 


A   GOLD    HUNTER'S    EXPERIENCE 

the  Platte,  and  by  pony  express  from 
there  to  Denver.  St.  Louis  papers 
were  eight  days  old  and  Chicago  papers 
ten  days  old  when  received. 

One  of  the  best  known  miners  in  our 
region  was  Joe  Watson,  who  came  from 
near  Philadelphia,  in  1859,  and  he  came 
to  stay.  Though  quiet  and  unassum- 
ing he  was  nervy,  determined,  perse- 
vering and  persistent.  He  discovered, 
staked  off,  owned  and  worked  many 
claims  in  Leavenworth  and  other 
gulches.  Sometimes  he  had  streaks 
of  luck  and  often  the  reverse.  When 
lucky  he  would  hire  men  to  help  him, 
when  * '  broke "  he  would  put  more 
patches  on  his  clothes,  sharpen  his  own 
tools,  borrow  a  sack  of  flour  and  work 
away.  Some  years  later  he  discovered 
a  really  rich  gold  mine,  then  worked  a 
silver  mine  in  Utah  and  became  a  mil- 
lionaire. During  the  spring  of  1861  and 
the  winter  previous,  he  prospected  in 
several  of  his  claims,  but  fortune  was 
103 


A   GOLD    HUNTER'S    EXPERIENCE 

against  him.  In  July,  when  most  of 
the  other  miners  had  left  our  gulch,  he 
came  back  and  quietly  went  to  work  in 
a  claim  that  he  owned  on  the  hillside  a 
few  hundred  feet  above  our  cottage. 
In  two  or  three  weeks  he  took  out  from 
a  narrow  crevice  two  cart  loads  of  top 
quartz  which  looked  like  rusty  iron  (not 
having  got  down  to  the  pyrites),  and  he 
persuaded  me  to  start  up  the  mill  and 
crush  it.  Very  soon  the  amalgam  be- 
gan to  pile  up  on  the  copper  plates  as  I 
had  never  before  seen  it.  The  result 
of  the  "  clean  up  "and  retorting  was 
$  1,000  worth  of  shining  gold.  The 
next  run,  out  of  the  same  mine,  pro- 
duced but  little  gold,  a  good  example 
of  how  that  metal  was  found  in  streaks 
and  pockets.  Watson  paid  his  debts, 
got  a  new  suit  of  clothes,  laid  in  a  stock 
of  provisions,  and  went  to  work  again 
developing  his  mines.  It  was  related 
of  him  that  he  went  to  Philadelphia 
one  winter  to  try  and  sell  shares  in  his 
104 


A   GOLD    HUNTER'S    EXPERIENCE 

mines,  and  that  he  wore  a  suit  of 
Quaker  clothes,  used  the  plain  language, 
attended  Friends'  meetings,  and  had 
good  success  in  selling  shares.  Of 
these  early  workers  I  might  name  a 
few  more  who  attained  wealth  or  promi- 
nence; but  the  great  majority  —  those 
who  hoped  and  struggled  and  toiled 
without  success,  are  forgotten. 

The  rich  strike  in  Joe's  mine  made 
quite  an  excitement.  Some  others  were 
inspired  with  renewed  hopes  and  many 
visited  the  gulch  to  see  the  rich  mine 
they  had  heard  of.  There  was  a  small 
army  of  miners  marching  through  the 
mountains  constantly,  going  in  all  di- 
rections, leaving  one  place  for  some 
other  where  rich  strikes  were  reported. 

I  concluded  to  make  one  more  trial 
in  the  Keystone,  dig  a  little  deeper  and 
see  if  the  ore  was  any  richer  there.  The 
result  was  a  pleasant  surprise,  and  gold 
enough  to  more  than  pay  expenses.  I 
hired  a  gang  of  men  to  work  the  mine 
105 


A   GOLD    HUNTER'S    EXPERIENCE 

night  and  day,  and  thus  kept  the  mill 
going  till  the  water  gave  out  in  the  fall. 
As  I  had  no  skilled  assistant  I  had  to 
work  at  least  sixteen  hours  a  day  in 
running  the  mill,  procurring  supplies 
and  superintending  everything.  Some 
runs  proved  the  quartz  to  be  quite  rich, 
though  it  varied  greatly.  We  still  be- 
lieved in  the  theory  that  it  would  grow 
richer  as  we  went  deeper.  I  arranged 
to  mine  all  winter  and  pile  up  the 
quartz  for  spring  crushing. 

In  April,  1862,  when  provisions  were 
nearly  used  up  in  the  mountains  and 
the  early  spring  supply  trains  from  the 
East  were  about  due,  there  came  an 
unusual  fall  of  snow,  eighteen  inches 
deep,  extending  far  eastward  over  the 
plains,  completely  blockading  teams 
and  transportation.  A  famine  was 
threatened  and  people  became  panic- 
stricken.  Flour  rose  as  high  as  $50  a 
sack,  and  one  day  a  small  quantity  sold 
for  eighty  cents  a  pound.  Coffee  and 

106 


A    GOLD    HUNTER'S    EXPERIENCE 

other  things  also  advanced  in  price. 
We  were  on  our  last  sack  of  flour,  and 
I  decided  that  when  that  was  gone  the 
men  must  all  quit  work  and  start  east- 
ward to  meet  the  supplies  on  the  plains. 
But  the  incoming  trains  soon  began  to 
arrive  in  Denver,  and  provisions  were 
plentiful  at  usual  prices. 

When  the  mill  was  started  up  in  the 
spring  our  hopes  were  dashed  by  find- 
ing that  the  quartz  taken  out  during 
the  winter  did  not  pay  as  well  as  that 
of  the  previous  season.  The  mine  was 
down  about  a  hundred  feet,  and  the 
last  taken  out  did  not  pay  expenses,  so 
I  discharged  the  miners  again.  I  was 
getting  tired  and  disgusted  with  the 
whole  business,  and  realized  that  it 
was  about  time  to  return  East  if  I  were 
going  back  there  to  settle  down. 

About  the  first  of  June,   Mr.  Ayres 

came  out  to  spend  the  summer.     He 

was  so  delighted  with  the  beauty  of  the 

scenery    and  novelty  of    the   business 

107 


A   GOLD    HUNTER'S    EXPERIENCE 

that  he  talked  of  sending  for  his  fam- 
ily. The  mountain  sides  were  gay 
with  wild  flowers  in  full  bloom  in  gor- 
geous colors.  The  shining  gold  that 
he  could  see  taken  out  by  several  suc- 
cessful plants,  delighted  his  eyes  and 
stimulated  his  imagination  nearly  up  to 
the  point  of  genuine  gold  fever.  His 
coming  was  of  course  a  great  relief  to 
me  by  dividing  the  responsibility  and 
work  about  the  mill.  We  ran  the  mill 
night  and  day,  crushed  all  the  quartz 
that  could  be  got  and  worked  over  a 
large  pile  of  tailings  that  had  accumu- 
lated below  the  mill,  which  paid  a  small 
profit.  The  summer's  success  was  very 
moderate.  About  midsummer  Mr. 
Ayres  bought  out  my  interest  in  the 
enterprise,  with  the  understanding  that 
I  would  remain  till  fall  and  assist  him. 
He  wanted  to  give  the  business  a  fur- 
ther trial.  I  determined  to  return  to 
Chicago  and  try  to  take  advantage  of 


108 


A    GOLD    HUNTER'S    EXPERIENCE 

the   tide  of  prosperity  then  beginning 
to  rise  in  the  East. 

Mr.  Ayres  remained  till  late  in  the 
fall,  then  went  to  Chicago  for  the  win- 
ter and  returned  to  the  mountains  early 
in  the  spring  of  1863,  to  give  the  busi- 
ness a  further  trial.  But  he  did  not  do 
much  mining  or  milling.  During  that 
spring  and  the  following  summer  a 
fever  of  speculation  prevailed  all  over 
the  East,  brought  about  by  the  war  and 
the  deluge  of  greenbacks.  It  extended 
to  mining  stocks,  and  especially  to  gold 
mines,  as  gold  was  then  selling  at  a  high 
premium  —  one  hundred  dollars  in  gold 
bringing  $260  in  legal  tender  currency. 
Mr.  Ayres  offered  his  plant  for  sale, 
went  to  New  York  in  the  summer  and 
disposed  of  it  in  Wall  street  for  $30,- 
ooo.  The  mill  was  never  afterwards 
run  and  I  believe,  none  of  the  mines 
ever  worked.  Twenty  years  later  I 
visited  Leavenworth  gulch.  The  mill 
and  all  the  houses  and  cabins  of  my 
109 


A   GOLD   HUNTER'S   EXPERIENCE 

former  days  there  had  disappeared, 
and  most  of  the  old  prospect  holes  and 
mining  shafts  had  caved  in.  One 
familiar  sight,  however,  remained.  A 
load  or  so  of  black,  rich  looking  ore 
was  lying  upon  the  ground  unused  and 
uncared  for  at  the  shaft  of  the  Key- 
stone. 

On  the  22nd  of  October,  1862,  I  left 
the  mountains  and  gave  up  the  mining 
business  for  ever.  The  next  day  at 
Denver  I  took  passage  for  Omaha,  in  a 
two-horse  covered  wagon,  with  a  man 
and  his  wife  who  were  returning  to  their 
home  in  Baraboo,  Wis.,  after  spending 
two  years  in  the  gold  fields  with  only 
moderate  success.  Another  man  also 
took  passage  making  a  party  of  four. 
Leaving  the  wagon  to  the  man  and  his 
wife,  my  fellow  passenger  and  I  slept  on 
the  ground  in  our  blankets,  except  occa- 
sionally, when  near  some  ranch  or  set- 
tlement,  we  could  enjoy  the  luxury  of 
a  haystack.  When  two  or  three  days 

no 


A   GOLD   HUNTER'S   EXPERIENCE 

out  of  Denver  we  had  a  * '  cold  snap  " 
which  froze  the  vegetables  in  the 
wagon  and  made  sleeping  out  very  un- 
comfortable. The  woman  did  the  cook- 
ing and  the  men  collected  the  fuel. 
The  other  two  men  had  guns  and  sup- 
plied us  with  small  game.  We  saw  a 
few  dozen  buffalo,  but  they  were  too  far 
off  to  shoot.  One  day  the  two  men 
went  off  on  an  all-day  hunt  among  the 
distant  hills,  the  arrangement  being  to 
meet  us  in  camp  at  evening.  I  drove 
the  team,  and  in  the  afternoon  we  came 
in  sight  of  a  camp  of  Indians  with 
their  lodges  set  up  near  our  trail.  The 
only  thing  to  do  was  to  drive  boldly 
ahead.  The  woman  sat  on  a  seat  well 
back  in  the  wagon,  and  I  sat  forward 
with  my  feet  out  on  a  front  step.  I 
hung  up  a  blanket  close  behind  me 
across  the  wagon,  so  that  the  Indians 
could  not  see  how  many  persons  were 
in  it.  As  we  approached  the  camp 
about  a  dozen  of  them  came  out  on  the 
in 


A   GOLD   HUNTER'S   EXPERIENCE 

trail  in  front  of  us,  motioning  to  me  to 
stop  and  calling  out,  "Swap,  swap, 
swap, "  meaning  for  us  to  stop  and  trade 
with  them,  but  intending  doubtless  to 
find  out  how  many  were  in  the  wagon, 
and  rob  us  if  they  dared.  Suddenly, 
when  within  a  few  yards  of  them,  I 
whipped  the  horses  with  all  my  might, 
and  drove  furiously  past  and  away  from 
the  camp.  When  our  party  met  at 
night,  all  agreed  that  the  day's  expe- 
rience savored  too  much  of  danger  to 
allow  the  hunters  to  go  out  of  sight  of 
the  wagon  again. 

We  passed  two  or  three  camps  of 
Sioux  Indians  along  the  Platte,  but 
they  gave  us  no  trouble.  When  driving 
through  the  trees  and  bushes  in  a  lonely 
spot  about  a  day's  journey  below  Fort 
Kearney,  we  suddenly  met  a  band  of 
mounted  Pawnee  warriors,  who  stopped 
us  and  in  broken  English  asked  where 
we  were  going,  where  we  came  from,  if 
we  saw  any  Sioux  Indians,  how  big  the 


112 


A   GOLD    HUNTER'S   EXPERIENCE 

bands  were,  if  they  had  many  ponies 
and  how  many  days'  journey  they  were 
away.  We  answered  their  inquiries, 
and  they  told  us  to  go  ahead.  They 
rode  westward,  doubtless  to  make  a 
raid  on  their  enemies,  the  Sioux. 

The  weather  was  now  getting  cold; 
we  approached  the  settlements  and 
enjoyed  the  haystacks.  One  night, 
while  camping  near  an  Indian  settle- 
ment on  the  Platte,  I  crawled  well  into 
the  middle  of  a  small  rick  of  hay.  The 
Indians  were  tramping  around  it  and 
over  it  and  howling  and  yelling  all 
night,  but  I  kept  my  berth  till  morning. 
We  reached  Omaha  in  twenty  days 
from  Denver.  There  I  said  good-by  to 
my  traveling  companions  and  took 
stage  for  Iowa  City,  whence  I  could  go 
by  rail  to  Chicago.  The  stage  trip  was 
two  days  and  nights  of  continuous 
travel,  except  short  stops  to  change 
horses  and  get  something  to  eat.  We 
were  packed  three  on  a  seat,  with  no 

"3 


A   GOLD   HUNTER'S   EXPERIENCE 

chance  to  stretch  out  our  limbs,  and  no 
opportunity  for  sleep,  except  such  as 
could  be  obtained  sitting  upright  and 
jolting  over  the  rough  roads. 

After  an  absence  of  about  two  and  a 
third  years,  I  reached  Chicago  in  the 
middle  of  November,  1862,  a  wiser  if 
not  a  richer  man. 

After  selling  out  my  interest  in  the 
joint  enterprise,  I  still  had  left  some 
fifty  claims  on  various  lodes  in  the 
newer  gold  fields  of  the  Clear  creek 
region.  Some  I  had  pre-empted,  and 
some  I  had  bought  in  job  lots  from 
miners  who  were  ' '  broke "  or  were 
about  to  leave  the  mountains.  Some 
had  prospect  holes  dug  in  them  and 
some  were  entirely  undeveloped.  They 
may  have  been  worthless,  and  they 
may  have  contained  untold  millions. 
But  I  had  given  up  the  mining  business. 
Some  time  after  returning  to  Chicago  I 
was  making  a  real  estate  trade,  and  we 
were  a  little  slow  in  adjusting  the  dif- 


A   GOLD   HUNTER'S   EXPERIENCE 

ference  in  values  and  closing  the  deal, 
and  finally  as  ''boot"  to  make  things 
even  I  threw  in  these  fifty  gold  mines. 
Perhaps  this  was  a  mistake  and  a 
squandering  of  wealth  and  opportuni- 
ties. Had  I  only  kept  them,  and  got- 
ten up  some  artistic  deeds  of  convey- 
ance, in  gilded  letters,  what  magnificent 
wedding  presents  they  would  have  made. 
And  the  supply  would  have  been  as 
exhaustless  as  that  of  Queen  Victoria's 
India  shawls.  In  the  long  list  of  high- 
sounding,  useless  presents,  the  present 
of  a  gold  mine  would  have  led  all  the 
rest. 

In  summing  up  the  losses  and  gains 
of  the  expedition,  I  have  to  charge  on 
one  side  two  years  and  four  months  of 
time  devoted  to  hard  work,  with  many 
privations,  and  about  $500  in  cash 
which  I  was  out  of  pocket.  On  the 
other  side,  I  had  built  up  a  fine  consti- 
tution, increased  in  strength  and  en- 
durance, gained  valuable  business 
"5 


A   GOLD   HUNTER'S   EXPERIENCE 

experience,  learned  in  a  measure  to 
persevere  under  difficulties,  and  to  bear 
with  patience  and  fortitude  the  back- 
sets, reverses  and  disappointments  that 
so  often  beset  us,  and,  finally,  had 
learned  enough  not  to  be  taken  in  by 
the  schemers  who  are  constantly  entic- 
ing eastern  people  to  invest  in  gold  and 
silver  mines.  Did  the  enterprise  pay  ? 


116 


PRINTED  BY  R.  R.  DONNELLEY 
AND  SONS  COMPANY  AT  THE 
LAKESIDE  PRESS,  CHICAGO,  ILL. 


